Talk:attack dog

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attack dog

A dog for attack.​—msh210℠ (talk) 17:03, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Hmm I thought this was an idiom but Wikipedia says "An attack dog is any dog bred, trained or used for the purpose of attacking a target either on command or on sight." which backs up what msh210 says. Our Wiktionary definition says "A specialized police or security dog", which contradicts Wikipedia, which says the definition of attack dogs including dog fighting (that is dog-on-dog, not planes!) Mglovesfun (talk) 22:15, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Oh, our definition didn't say that at the time of nomination. As you note, WP says it's wrong anyway. Most cites for "attack dog" do seem to be in the context of security, but not all.​—msh210℠ (talk) 22:42, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Keep and add the sense of a person who engages in rhetorical attacks on behalf of another. See, e.g.:

• 2001, Mark Jaffe, The Gilded Dinosaur, p. 146:

  It was, however, as Charles Darwin's alter ego, an attack dog for the theory of evolution, that Huxley gained his greatest notoriety.

Cheers! bd2412 T 15:52, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Keep, want to add translations like Kampfhund (literally "fight dog") Mutante 22:24, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

• Keep both the literal sense and metaphorical place about people instead of dogs Purplebackpack89 ^{(Notes Taken) (Locker)} 01:55, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

Kept. — TAKASUGI Shinji (talk) 05:07, 27 March 2012 (UTC)