Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Dogs

A swan swims on the Scharmützelsee at sunrise on July 2, 2025, when temperatures in the nearby German cities of Berlin and Brandenberg were expected to hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystems

A kibble Mona Lisa on display

Using Colorful Dog Kibble, Artists Turn ‘Mona Lisa,’ ‘The Scream’ and ‘The Kiss’ Into Museum Masterpieces That Man’s Best Friend Can Appreciate

Sisters from New Jersey spent two months recreating famous artworks while also making sure their dog didn’t get into the edible art supplies

The skeleton first emerged from an eroded road cut in 2000 or 2001.

Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years

New research shows that the ancestors of the Barkindji people in Australia ritually added river mussel shells to a burial site for centuries after the dingo died, suggesting they cared for it deeply

About 47 percent of wolves in Italy are considered wolf-dog hybrids, according to a recent genetic analysis.

Nearly Half of Italy’s Wolves Are Part Dog Now, Thanks to Hybridization. Is That a Threat to the Species?

Wolf-dog hybrids are growing far more common in Italy, raising scientists’ concerns for the future of the wolves

John Smith stumbled upon the ax head when he was walking his dog.

Cool Finds

A Man and His Dog Discovered a 3,400-Year-Old Ax Head While Out for a Walk in One of England’s Ancient Forests

Researchers believe the ax dates to between 1400 B.C.E. and 1275 B.C.E. and is a relic of the Bronze Age, when humans started to work with metal

Wishbone ready for his close-up

In the 1990s, a Dog Taught Kids About Shakespeare and Homer. A New Documentary Tells the Tale of ‘Wishbone’—From His Backflips to His Historical Hats

The film reunites the human cast and crew who saw the potential of a Jack Russell terrier to bring classic literature to life on PBS

An artist's depiction of dogs living alongside humans at a site in Turkey 15,800 years ago

Scientists Identify the World’s First Known Dog, Which Pushes Back the Animals’ Genetic Record by About 5,000 Years

Two new ancient DNA studies suggest that domesticated dogs were widespread in western Eurasia more than 14,000 years ago

The cockapoo, a mix between the cocker spaniel and poodle, had the most behavioral problems of all analyzed crossbreeds compared to its purebred progenitor breeds.

Contrary to Popular Belief, Some Doodle Crossbred Dogs May Have More Behavioral Problems Than Their Purebred Parents

Pet owners often pick “designer dogs” because they think they’ll be easier to train and friendlier with kids than purebreeds. A new study suggests that’s not always the case

Japanese chin dogs had some of the highest rates of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in the study. 

These 12 Popular Dog Breeds Are at Risk of Breathing Problems Related to Their Short Snouts, a New Study Suggests

Past research on brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome—a chronic, hereditary disease associated with flat faces—has focused mainly on just three breeds

Two livestock guardian dogs, both akbash and Great Pyrenees mixes, stand among their flock at a ranch run by the prominent dog-breeding Buchholz family.

When Coyotes Threatened Livestock on Central Texas Ranches, the Solution Was to Unlock an Ancient Ability in Dogs

Killing the predators is not nearly as effective as the intimidating presence of well-trained guardians, a role some breeds have played for 5,000 years

The study involved pups like Miso, a 6-year-old male border collie from Canada who knows the names of about 200 toys.

New Research

Some Dogs Are ‘Gifted Word Learners’ That Learn Language by Eavesdropping—Just Like Human Toddlers

New research suggests prodigious pups that already have large vocabularies can learn new words by listening in on their owners’ conversations

The U.S. military will no longer shoot live goats and pigs to help combat medics learn to treat battlefield injuries.

U.S. Military Ends Practice of Shooting Live Animals to Train Medics to Treat Battlefield Wounds

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act bans the use of live animals in live-fire training exercises and prohibits “painful” research on domestic cats and dogs

In 2025, researchers watched an interstellar comet, learned about human origins and traced the spread of measles.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2025, From Medical Breakthroughs to an Interstellar Visitor

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

Owners and their golden retrievers gather in an attempt to break the world record in the Bosques de Palermo in Buenos Aires on December 8, 2025.

More Than 2,000 Golden Retrievers Gather in an Argentina Park in an Attempt to Break a World Record

The previous informal record had been set during an event in Vancouver last year, which brought together 1,685 goldens

Both the Czechoslovakian wolfdog and the chihuahua have some recent wolf DNA, a new study suggests.

A DNA Analysis of Almost 3,000 Canines Suggests That Most Dogs Have a Little Wolf in Them

The two subspecies split about 20,000 years ago. But since then, they may have interbred more often than Smithsonian scientists thought

Previously, researchers assumed that much of modern dogs' diversity emerged during he past few centuries.

New Research

Dogs Have Been Surprisingly Diverse for More Than 10,000 Years, New Research Suggests

Two studies provide scientists with a more comprehensive understanding of how early dogs were domesticated as they migrated around the world alongside humans

A new study investigates addiction-like behaviors in dogs.

Does Your Dog Love Chasing a Ball? Study Suggests Dog Toy ‘Addiction’ Is Real

The research documents addiction-like tendencies in canines, offering scientific evidence that appears to support owners’ own observations

In The Night Watch, Rembrandt included a small dog crouching in the shadows.

Cool Finds

The Mystery of the Small Dog in Rembrandt’s Monumental Masterpiece ‘The Night Watch’ Has Officially Been Solved

When a curator spotted a strikingly similar image of a dog by a lesser-known Dutch artist, she wondered if it could have inspired the pup in Rembrandt’s famous 1642 painting

Ecological scent detection dog Circe searches for Canelo Hills ladies’ tresses in the tall vegetation

This Rare, Endangered Orchid Only Exists in Two Locations. Can Dogs, Cows and Fungi Help It Thrive?

A Smithsonian ecologist is trying to restore the plant, Spiranthes delitescens, which grows on Arizona’s sky islands

Yagi (left) and Quinn (right) are searching for evidence of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia's Way Kambas National Park.

Two Sniffer Dogs Might Have Just Found a Lost Population of Critically Endangered Rhinos

Yagi and Quinn identified scat that was likely left by a Sumatran rhinoceros in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park, where scientists thought the animals had disappeared

Page 1 of 16