Pet Idea: Dog Breeds

Over the course of WoW's history, plenty of pets have been implemented.  Plenty of cats, rats, moths, crocs, fish, and everything else under the sun.  However, we've only had two actual dog breeds obtainable in-game: the Perky Pug and Alterac Brew-Pup (St. Bernard).  Lately, it was announced on Twitter that a Molten Corgi would be added in WoD.  The Frostwolf Ghostpup from Archaeology in WoD is *technically* a dog in my eyes, but is more a "canine", along with other wolves, worgs, foxes, etc.

The regular Corgi (pictured above) has been in-game for a long time, outside the Greench's cave during Winter's Veil as a windup toy - never added as a regular pet to obtain.  It may not ever be added at this point, now that there's a fiery version in the works.  There was also a Gilnean Mastiff added in Cataclysm, never made into a battle pet.

The last technical dog pet is the Lucky Quilen Cub, which is based off of a Chinese Foo Dog, which is thought to be the progenitor of the Chow Chow, Pug, Shih Tzu, etc.  Indeed, it does bark like a dog, play like a dog, and look like a Chow Chow.

But, what other dog breeds could there be?  Where would they fit in?  What animations could they have?  That's what I'm here to brainstorm!

First off, there could be several pets for every single playable race.  They could be bought from vendors in several locations, requiring no rep.  Most (if not all) would be battle pets, as well.  Since it has taken so long to add in dogs as pets, I would hope they would be fairly easy to obtain.  Between the Perky Pug, Lucky Quilen Cub, Brew-Pup/Mastiffs, Wolves, Foxes, Hyenas, Darkhounds, and others, there are plenty of animations already in-game that can be applied to other dog breeds in the future, and some can simply be added as a pet as-is.  All the dogs would be usable on either faction, much like the Argent Tournament pets.

Here is the list of real dog breeds that can be renamed in wow, and be applied to different races!

Human
Stormwind Terrier (Boston Terrier)
Stone Cairn Terrier (Cairn Terrier) - Tito could have his model changed to this as well.
-The Cairn Terrier fit well, due to the fact that Stormwind's territory has a literal cairn, which the dog could be named after.  Boston Terriers are cute, and for whatever reason, they just fit with Stormwind in my eyes.  Plus that's my dog in real life.  Someday I'll have my Daisy in-game.

Orc
Nagrand Shepherd (Australian Shepherd)
Gorgrond Dingo (Dingo)
-I thought that Australian breeds would fit the Orcs best.  After all, what's more #savage than a Dingo as a racial pet?  The Nagrand Shepherd fits well into the Mag'har way of life in the main timeline Outland.

Night Elf
Moonglade Spitz (Shiba Inu)
Winterspring Spitz (Akita Inu)
Goldrinn Spitz (Shikoku Inu)
-Since the Night Elves take some inspiration from Japanese and Korean culture, the three "inu" dogs fit perfectly.  The "Goldrinn Spitz" could have the lore that it was a Moonglade Spitz that Goldrinn had blessed, thus the wolf-like appearance!

Forsaken
Tirisfal Retriever (Golden Retriever)
Hearthglen Labrador (Yellow Lab)
Stratholme Retriever (Black Lab)
-Lordaeron always came off to me like a pretty standard fantasy game kingdom...before the plague, of course.  As such, the most generic iconic dogs should go to the now-residents of the broken kingdom.  The lore for all three breeds could be tied to the Scarlet Crusade keeping them pure, and that Darkhounds in Tirisfal and the Plaguelands were once these dogs as well.

Gnome
Gnomeregan Yipper (Chihuahua)
Mechanomutt (Mechanical Chihuahua)
-Gnomes (and Goblins, as seen below) were very simple.  Take iconic, fun dogs, and make a mechanical version of them.  Of course, Gnomeregan is in quite cold conditions compared to where Chihuahuas are from in real life....maybe that's why they shiver all the time?  The lore for the mechanical version could be that they started making the Mechanomutt after Gnomeregan became irradiated when the Yipper population suffered.  Now the Yipper population is fine, and there are also mechanical versions for mess-free pets!

Goblin
Kezatian (Dalmatian)
Electromutt (Mechanical Dalmatian)
-This dog breed was simple to think of.  What are Goblins known for?  Explosions and fires.  How are Dalmatians depicted?  On firetrucks.  The lore's already written for them.  Electromutts (or, Electrohounds - on the fence with that name) could have been built to compete with the Gnomes' Mechanomutt.

Draenei
Great Argus Hound (Great Dane)
-Only one breed for the Draenei, but it fits them.  They're big, noble, loyal, and muscular...both Draenei and Great Danes, that is.

Tauren
Mulgore Plainshound (Native American Indian Dog)
-There are many European and Australian hunting/herding dogs out there, but I wanted to find something much more Native American.  This dog breed looks (and behaves) very much like it would fit into the Tauren lifestyle.

Dwarf
Kharanos Spitz (Pomeranian)
Highland Grasshound (Dachshund)
Shadowforge Hound (Doberman Pinscher)
-I chose to find three German dogs for the Dwarves, one for each clan.  The Pomeranian fits into the Bronzebeard as a pet.  The Dachshund fits extremely well into the Wildhammer way of life, and the style of hunting and land they hunt on.  The Dark Irons needed a tough dog for their tough lifestyle, and the Doberman fits perfectly, due to its reputation.  The Shadowforge Hound could be an uncorrupted version of the Bloodhounds found in Blackrock Depths.

Blood Elf
Eversong Bulldog (French Bulldog)
Silvermoon Poodle (Poodle)
Pink Poodle
-The Blood Elves and French fit together perfectly.  They both enjoy the finer things in life, have some of the most beautiful cities in the world, and speak fancy as hell (...unlike me, apparently).  French dog types fit into Blood Elf society well.  They could have had Asian Spitz-type dogs, to show their connection to Night Elven culture, but Poodles and Frenchies are adorable.

Worgen
Gilnean Bulldog (already in game)
Duskhaven Terrier (Yorkshire Terrier)
Curious Corgi (pictured at the top)
-Gilneans already have a dog breed, Blizzard just needs to add it in.  Yorkies are adorable, and a VERY English dog breed.  They fit in well with Gilneans.  The Corgi is a Welsh dog breed, but would fit well into Gilnean lifestyle as well.  As with the Bullmastiffs of Gilneas, they simply need to add it in as a dog breed.

Troll
Zandalar Hound (Puli)
Amani Hound (Komondor)
Gurubashi Hound (Bergamasco Shepherd)
-Even though both the Komondor and Puli are Hungarian breeds (the Bergamasco is Italian), their appearance couldn't be more perfect for the Trolls of Azeroth.  All three would be common dog breeds among all Trolls on Azeroth, descended from Zandalar.

Pandaren
Black Pug
Pandarese (Pekingese)
-The Black Pug would be perfect for the Pandaren.  There's already a model, sounds, and battle pet abilities... it just needs to be recolored!  The Pekingese is related to the Pug through the Foo Dog, and is basically just a long-haired Pug.  It could use the same sounds and animations.

Next post I'll make will be about more dog breeds from neutral locations.

What do you think?  Let me know on Twitter!