work dog

See also: workdog

English

Alternative forms

• workdog

Etymology

From work +‎ dog.

Noun

work dog (plural work dogs)

1. A working dog; a dog breed created to perform specific tasks (e.g. herding).
   • 1944, Emily Carr, “The Cousins’ Bobtails”, in The House of All Sorts‎^[1]:

     Wisps of straw stuck in the workdog’s coat, mud was on her feet, she reeked of cow.

   • 2012 April 13, Emma Gray, “Love me, love my dogs”, in The Daily Mail:

     Roy is my best work dog, a real powerhouse. He is very intelligent and I can trust him to do anything — whether it’s bringing in the big aggressive male sheep […] or gently catching a baby lamb who’s become separated from its mother.

   • 2013 August 26, Dan Nosowitz, “I Met the World’s Smartest Dog”, in Popular Science:

     Border collies are the only dogs I like. […] They are work dogs, not lap dogs.

   • 2015, Stephen Sumner, Phantom Pain: A Memoire: It’s All in Your Head:

     He's such a good dog. He's headstrong and incorrigible and relentless and I love him for it. He's half French Briard and half Maremmane, the South Tuscan sheepdog. So he's all workdog and smart as a whip.