note: the vast majority of these are also applicable to many other animals, but it'd take me forever to specify which and when and all that and i am just a dogwolf ahah! ^^;; hope this helps anyhow !!
please do not tag as "b!oterms", the term is anti-physical-nonhumans and i am a zoanthropic holothere ! i will NOT discourse abt it, go bark up a tree !!!!
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parts of the body:
[human → dog]
hair -> fur
hair on head → mane
hair drawn around front of neck → ruff
nose + mouth + chin → muzzle / snout
teeth → fangs
upper lip → flews [rhymes with "crews"]
skin (overall) → hide
skin on front of neck → dewlap
skin on back of neck → scruff / nape
hair on back of neck → hackles
shoulder blades → withers
hands → (fore)paws
palms of hands + balls of feet → (paw)pads
thumbs → dewclaws
fur on hairy hands → mops
nails → claws
belton — intermingled white + other colored hairs
bicolor(ed) — coat of 2 distinct colors
brindle — even mix of dark + light, usu. like tiger/tabby stripes
buff — light brownish yellow
fawn — pale brown / golden brown, like a fawn
grizzled — roan pattern mixing black OR blue-gray OR iron-gray OR red w/ white
harlequin — black or blue patches on white
hound-colored — black, tan, white + black saddle
lion-colored — golden brown w/ a yellow-to-red undertone, like a lion [see: ibizan hound]
merle — mottled + white fur (usu. red, black, or blue) [see: australian shepherd]
mottled — irregular pattern of streaks, spots, speckles, or blotches
particolor(ed) — patches of 2 different colors on 1 base color
piebald — black + white (or any other 2 colors) in patches
roan — even blended mix of white + another color, not gray from age
sable — black tips on silver, gray, gold, fawn, or brown hairs
saddle — dark patches on the back
(be)spectacle(d) — markings around eyes
ticked — distinct speckling of black / dark colors on light
tricolor — coat of 3 distinct colors (usu. black, white + tan)
wheaten — pale yellow or light fawn
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fur types:
longhaired — long fur
shorthaired — short fur
smooth-coated — visibly + tactilely smooth
wirehaired — very textured fur (usu. straight)
corded — tight curls to coils to locs [see: komondor + puli]
feathered — long, thin, + wispy at the edges
jacket — short + close to the body
stand-off coat — fluffy coat billowing out from body instead of lying flat [see: norweigian elkhound]
topknot — tuft on top of head
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life + events:
[human → dog]
sleeping place → den, lair
storage (esp. of food) → cache
being born, giving birth → whelping
child, youth → whelp, pup
family, comrades → pack / packmates
moving out, starting out on your own → dispersal
partner → mate
course, legacy → track
*dogs don't really have "genders" genders, ofc, but i wanted to include this for those who DO choose gendered animal terms for themselves, and were looking for an alternative to "bitch". "tife" is an old english word also meaning female dog!
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sources!!!
dog breed info: list of dog terms (cw for mentions of animal modification)
wikipedia: canine terminology (accessed 18 june 2025)
wikipedia: dog anatomy (accessed 18 june 2025)
wiktionary: tife / tifan
the most exciting thing thats happened since ive been offline is finally having some type of control over my full body shifts. the most recent one was a cú síth and it was completely voluntary and painless. uncomfortable of course but all i had to do was think of my past life and i started shapeshifting.
it started in my hands and feet and worked its way higher up my body, whenever it got to my head i could feel my eyes changing color. felt like my eyes were getting filled with liquid. i didnt spend long in my full body, maybe around one minute, but it was so fucking euphoric. when i opened my eyes and looked at my hands after i could see my paw pads fade away.
im a shapeshifter and im starting to be able to control my shifts. im so fucking happy.
I frequently notice how dog-ish my face is when I snarl at the mirror. I can see my canines perfectly and, somehow, the dullness of my pupils against the blue [of my irises] is very explicitly dog. I wish I could take photos to show it, but I’m not free about posting my face online lol. Also people are asses when it comes to anyone who is physically an animal in some form or some way. But anywho, all I’m saying is that It’s very clear to see how dog I am.
My transformations seem to fluctuate from being relatively aggressive to let out, either my hands & arms slowly excruciating into paws, or they just happen.
I notice that when I’m outside doing stuff they just naturally occur. It makes sense. But when I’m cooped up indoors and happen to feel one coming on they feel much more stressful, which honestly could also deal with the fact that I have to worry about people seeing.
Had a tiny bit of the reminiscent feeling of transforming outside earlier. I didn’t let it happen because I didn’t want my mom to see, but essentially I felt my skin start to “protrude” a bit. Also felt the atmosphere of where my tail would come out.
