WHAT IS A DOG ?

The Dog Family, called Canidae from the Latin canis meaning “dog”, includes around 37 species of living wolves, jackals, foxes, wild and domestic dogs. All member of the dog family, or canids, are carnivores, or meat eaters, and have special adaptations for hunting. Their teeth are used for killing prey, chewing meat, gnawing bones, and sometimes for fighting each other. Their highly developed senses of sight, sound, and smell with their large eyes, erect ears, and sensitive noses – mean they can track prey succesfully, whether they are social, or solitary, hunters. All wild dogs, except for the South American bush dog, have long legs adapted for running fast in pursuit of prey. All canids are “digitigrade” (they walk on their toes), and have distinctive feet, with five claws on the front foot and four on the hind. In domestic dogs, there is sometimes an extra, fifth claw (dew claw) on the hind foot. Wild dogs have long tails, and their dense fur is usually without spots or stripes. Canids usually mate once a year and, after two months’ development in the womb, produce a litter of pups. Like all mammals, the mother suckles her young after they are born and looks after them for several months, with help from the rest of the family.

WHAT IS NOT A DOG ?
Sometimes called dogs, the hyena, Tasmanian wolf, and prairie dog are in the dog family. The three species of hyena, within the Hyaenidae fanily, are more closely related to cats. The Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, now extinct, was a marsupial (pouched mammal) that lived in Australia, while the North American prairie dog is a rodent related to squirrels.