Do you ever use this word to referr to non-domestic canines in the canine family? I don't. I only use ''dog'' when referring to the domestic canine. Some of the members of the canine family are the dog, fox, wolf, coyote, jackal and dingo. The members of the canine family are canines not dogs. I think saying canine family is more correct than sayin dog family. For the same reason saying ''domestic dog'' is a redundancy. All new science books should stop writing ''domestic dog'' and just simply write ''dog''. A dog is a kind of canine. Not all dogs are canines.
Says you, Jack, says you. I use the word this way. Why not? And a lion is a cat.
you use ''dog'' to mean ''canine''. Dog is not a synonym for ''canine''. ''dog'' is the name for that canine that would otherwise seem to not have a name. ''Domestic dog'' is just redundant''. Why do you think the word ''canine'' exists then. ''Dog'' and ''canine'' are not ''synonyms'' and should be used correctly. You ask ''why not''. Well, why should the ''domestic canine'' have it's own name just like the fox and wolf do. It does. It's name is the dog. Not all canines are dogs. You obviously don't know when to use ''dog'' and when to use ''canine''. It's a myth that they both mean the same thing. A wolf is not a dog just like a spider is not an insect. the dog is just one of the members of the canine family. Wolfs are not in the dog family just like cereal is not in the ''bread group'' but in the ''grain group'' and the ''canine family''. Cereal is not bread and pasta isn't so it's wrong to call it the ''bread group'' like it's often called.
why should the ''domestic canine'' have it's own name just like the fox and wolf do? I mean ''why shouldn't''.
Oh, about the ''grain group'' and the ''bread group''. There is an exception. These are the 5 food groups on the food pyramid.
Grain group
Vegetable group
Fruit group
Meat group
Dairy group
The exception is that the ''meat group'' contains ''eggs'' but is still called the ''meat group''.
The word ''canine'' exists to distinguish the domestic canines from the other wild canines. It's not a synonym for dog. Wolves are part of the canine family not the dog family just like spiders are archnids and not insects.
Why say ''wolves are dogs'' when the word ''canine'' works just fine in that situation. I think even some scientists are nowadays making the ''dog'' and ''canine'' distinction. I once heard some scientist say that dogs were related to wolves.
Jack, you are getting excited about this word, aren't you? Well, here's what the Cambridge Dictionary says.
dog (ANIMAL) [Show phonetics]
noun [C]
a common four-legged animal, especially kept by people as a pet or to hunt or guard things:
my pet dog
wild dogs
dog food
We could hear dogs barking in the distance.
http://www.dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=23046&dict=CALD
Notice the term "wild dog". Hey, is this some kind of oxymoron? I've just done a search on Google and what did I turn up? One hundered and forty-two thousand website with references to "wild dog".
The fact is that whilst most would not consider foxes, wolves, coyotes and jackals to be dogs, it is generally accepted that there exist certain species which are called dogs though they are not domesticated and may never have been. For example the African wild dog (see the link below).
http://www.wcmc.org.uk/species/data/species_sheets/wilddog.htm
This is what dictionary.com says about ''dog''.
dog
A domesticated carnivorous mammal (Canis familiaris) related to the foxes and wolves and raised in a wide variety of breeds.
Canine
Any of various widely distributed carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae, which includes the foxes, wolves, dogs, jackals, and coyotes.
According to that dictionary not The cambridge dictionary. Dogs are just a seperate canine. More people consider lions ''cats'' than consider foxes and wolves ''dogs''.
It goes to show you that no dictionary is ever the be all and end all. Though I wonder how dictionary.com would account for the one hundered and forty-two thousand website with references to "wild dog".
Well, I've also seen some website that say ''spiders eat other insects''. that's not true because spiders are not insects they're archnids.
I just got this from a website. You see how wrong this website is?
Quote-''spiders eat other insects'' Wrong-spiders are not insects but archnids.
Quote-''Scorpions are insects of the spider family that, despite their somewhat lobster-like appearance, are far more dangerous - along with their "lobster claws," scorpions also have a poisonous stinger in their tail.'' Wrong-scorpions are archnids.
You see how wrong websites can be?
Yes, very true indeed. Website are written by people. People don't always understand the correct definition of a word. However we're talking not about a handful of websites but one hundered and forty-two thousand of them.
Whoops, I made a mistake. it's ''arachnids'' not ''archnids''.
question for you guys! Do you think Hyenas are included in the canidae family?