Dog/Legends

Dogs were domesticated animals noted for their keen sense of smell and their barking vocalizations. They were often kept as pets by Humans and other species, such as Talz. A similar, more wild canid, was a wolf.

In their youth, both Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian owned dogs, though tragically, Lando's was run over by a speeder. The memory would haunt Calrissian for years to come. Likewise, Luke would reflect upon his pet as he left the Tatoo system for the first time on the Millennium Falcon. Ken sometimes wished he had a pet dog or cat instead of a pet mooka. The K-9 series companion droids were designed to imitate a dog in both appearance and behavior.

Several other creatures, such as the akk dog and the Cyborrean battle dog, may have been related to dogs, or named for dogs due to similar behavior and habits.

"Dog" was also sometimes used as a term of contempt. A Mandalorian mercenary once referred to the bounty hunter Durge as Jaing's "dog." Likewise, while C-3PO's head was temporarily attached to a B-1 battle droid's body during the Battle of Geonosis, he was heard to shout, "Die, Jedi dogs!" Han Solo once said of Gamorreans that "[they] are as dumb as a box of rocks and sleep like a dog." A more complimentary idiom was "top dog," which Canderous Ordo once used to mean the top bounty hunter on Taris.

Though most mentions of dogs referred to non-sentient domestic animals, at least one sentient being existed who was only identified as a "dog." This being was an associate of the mercenary bunny Max.

Behind the scenes
As with most Earth animals featured in the Star Wars canon, the status and origins of the dog remain a mystery. Quite a few organisms in the Star Wars galaxy have obvious real-world analogues that share the same name, such as ducks; rabbits; horses; chickens; frogs; cats; and, of course, Humans.

Dog-related words such as hound, cur, pup, or puppy are used figuratively in some sources. These may be further examples of the place of dogs in the culture of the Star Wars galaxy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Prototypes
 * Star Wars Republic: Prelude to Rebellion
 * Starfighter: Crossbones
 * Defeat the Dark Side
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Republic 53: Blast Radius
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * The Paradise Snare
 * Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Cantina Communications
 * The Lost Jedi Adventure Game Book
 * Vader's Quest
 * Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand
 * The Lost City of the Jedi
 * Dark Forces: Jedi Knight
 * Before the Storm
 * Before the Storm