Man's best friends.
"I love dogs!"
— Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist
A bark-tacular index of dog, fox and other canine-related tropes. Wolves have their own subindex, Wolf Tropes. Compare to This Index Meows. Not to be confused with Tropey the Wonder Dog.
Tropes:
Categories:
- All Animals Are Dogs: A work depicts all animals as behaving the same way as dogs.
- All Dogs Are Purebred: Dogs in media are most often purebreds.
- Alpha and Beta Wolves: Is often applied to all canines.
- Angry Guard Dog: The characters have to deal with an aggressive guard dog.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: An dog that is mean and vicious (or even evil) to everyone and everything.
- Big Friendly Dog: A large dog who is very cuddly and friendly.
- Bully Bulldog: A bulldog that is portrayed as any form of Jerkass, often for a vicious, short-tempered reason or is written as an bully most often than not. Whether they are deliberately cruel & violent or not.
- Canine Companion: A dog who travels with a character wherever they go.
- Canines Gambling in a Card Game: A Stock Parody of Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's Dogs Playing Poker.
- Canines Primary, Felines Secondary: A work of fiction features dogs as the main cast, and cats as the supporting cast.
- Canis Major: A giant dog.
- Cat/Dog Dichotomy: Cats and dogs are depicted as being each other's polar opposites.
- A Cat in a Gang of Dogs: A group of dogs have a cat hanging with them that they regard as their friend.
- Cunning Like a Fox: Foxes are portrayed as crafty, clever and cunning.
- Diabolical Dog Catcher: The Arch-Enemy of all canines.
- Dinosaur Doggie Bone: A dog loves a dinosaur fossil bone just as if it were a regular bone.
- A Dog Ate My Homework: A student who neglected to do their homework tries to avoid getting in trouble by claiming their dog ate it.
- Dogfaces: Anthropomorphic dogs who are depicted as humans with canine snouts instead of human-like noses.
- Dog Got Sent to a Farm: Parents cover up the family dog dying or getting euthanized by lying to the kids that the dog was sent to live on a farm.
- Dog Stereotype: A dog's personality is determined by its breed/etc.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Domesticated dogs that are stereotypically depicted as creatures that lack intelligence when around others that consider them as lazy, have creatures being shown as smarter or humans being paired with one.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: Dogs like to attack squirrels.
- Dogs Love Being Praised: A dog loves being called a "good dog" or most commonly "good boy/girl".
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Dogs are depicted as being obsessed with fire hydrants.
- Dog Walks You: A dog drags its owner around while being taken on a walk.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: A dog (or other animals) can sense when an evil being is present.
- Fantastic Foxes: Foxes being portrayed as supernatural or intelligent.
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: A pairing consisting of a male dog and a female cat.
- Firehouse Dalmatian: Dalmatians that live in fire departments.
- Fox Folk: A human character with fox-like traits.
- Foxy Vixen: Foxes — especially vixens — tend to be depicted as sexy.
- Go Fetch: Getting rid of an Angry Guard Dog with a game of fetch.
- Hellhound: A big supernatural dog that is evil.
- Heroes Love Dogs: A heroic character loves to keep a pet dog.
- Heroic Canines, Villainous Felines: Dogs are the good guys and cats are the bad guys.
- Heroic Dog: An canine who is The Hero and really is man's best friend.
- Howling to the Night: Wolves howl at sunset or at night to set an atmosphere of danger.
- Howl of Sorrow: Animal howls in mourning or emotional pain. Just as likely to be done by wolves as other canines.
- Kitsune: Japanese folklore about an intelligent fox with magical powers.
- Mailman vs. Dog: Dogs that attack postal workers for comic effect or not.
- Men Like Dogs, Women Like Cats: Man's Best Friend is a dog, Woman's Best Friend is a cat.
- Mister Muffykins: A little yappy dog who gets on everyone's nerves, or is even considered evil.
- Old Dog: A dog who is getting on with the years.
- Pet Gets the Keys: Classic examples put dogs in this position.
- Post-Apocalyptic Dog: In the event of an apocalypse, dogs will appear as either ravenous scavengers or a man's loyal best friend.
- Precious Puppy: An adorable puppy makes everything better.
- Psycho Poodle: Poodles portrayed as vicious, or even evil.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: Not necessarily a dog, but often is. A bad guy's companion pet used for fighting.
- Robot Dog: A robot (or even an animated plush) made to look like a dog.
- Saint-Bernard Rescue: A Saint-Bernard that carries a barrel of brandy around its neck to give to their rescue victims.
- Sled Dogs Through the Snow: In the arctic, sled dogs are used as a form of transportation.
- Tanuki: A type of canid (raccoon-dog) that lives in Asia. In Japanese folklore, some tanuki are intelligent, heroic and have magical powers.
- Tanuki/Kitsune Contrast: Two species of canid that are frequently paired together and contrasted in Japanese media.
- They Have the Scent!: Dogs being used to track something by sniffing about and following the scent.
- Those Wily Coyotes: Coyotes being portrayed as clowns, and crafty bastards.
- Toilet-Drinking Dog Gag: A gag about dogs (or other animals) drinking from the toilet.
