work dog

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See also: workdog

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From work +‎ dog.

Noun

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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.