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Kanji for Dog
The kanji most commonly used for "Dog" is 犬.
犬
Kanji that mean Dog
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犬
dog, spy
Also associated with humble term.
Onyomi: ken Kunyomi: inu 4 strokes Jōyō
犬 (inu / ken) is the dog — a pictograph so old its four legs and tail have compressed into four strokes and a dot. It is one of the first kanji children learn, and the animal earns the honour: from the loyal 忠犬ハチ公 (Hachikō, who waited at Shibuya station for nine years) to the 秋田犬 (Akita) and 柴犬 (Shiba) that carried Japanese dogs to the world.
As a radical (犭) the dog runs through dozens of beast characters — 猫 (cat), 狼 (wolf), 狐 (fox). In folklore the 狛犬 lion-dogs guard every shrine gate in stone pairs, one mouth open, one closed. Expecting mothers wrap their sash on the Day of the Dog (戌の日), borrowing the animal’s easy births — 戌 being the zodiac’s dog, twin character to 犬.
The proverbs are affectionate and wry: 犬も歩けば棒に当たる — “even a walking dog hits a stick”: go out and things, good or bad, will happen to you.
Words using Dog kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
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盲導犬
もうどうけん
guide dog; seeing-eye dog
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愛犬
あいけん
pet dog; beloved dog; love of dogs
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子犬
こいぬ
puppy; small dog
Before you use Dog kanji
犬 is plain, warm and safe — "dog", with loyalty (Hachikō) as its strongest association. One nuance: in compounds 犬 can mean a spy or toady (権力の犬, "the regime's dog"), so context is everything — alone with a paw print it reads exactly as intended. For the zodiac dog, the character is 戌.