AnimalsThe dog was the first animal to be domesticated. Dogs have a far keener sense of smell than people, which is why they are trained to find missing persons and to detect explosives. There are hundreds of breeds, from tiny lap dogs to large working dogs.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Canis lupus familiaris
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Omnivore (eats plants and animals)
- Lives in
- Worldwide, with people
- Habitat
- Homes, farms and towns
- A young one is called
- puppy
- A group is called
- pack
- Conservation status
- Domestic animal
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Carnivora
- Family Canidae
- Genus Canis
- Species Canis lupus familiaris
Other members of the family Canidae on this site: red fox, wolf.
More distant relatives in the order Carnivora: brown bear, cheetah, domestic cat, giant panda, jaguar, leopard, lion, polar bear, red panda, sloth bear, snow leopard, spotted hyena.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The dog is a domestic animal, kept and bred by people. Domestic animals are not assessed for the Red List of threatened species.