Nah, not much compared to other mammal groups.

precursor: everyone do me a favor and don't reply to this with what dogs mean to you and why you love them................ I prommy I already know............................. I already 'get it'.......... its fine. I don't need to be explained.

It's partially an oversaturation thing; at this point, it's a little exhausting to see/interact with/draw, everyone is a dog, everything is turned into a dog, everything in animation acts like a dog even if it is a horse, everyone is a puppygirlboy, so I feel like I want to represent and express other animals as often as I can. I'm more likely to take on a commission inquiry for something like a donkey, than a wolf. I wouldn't want to do a feral gangbang of all street dogs or wolves, or something; I would say no to a request like that. At the very least, I prefer canine x something else... like, a collie x sheep would be cute to do.

They aren't all created equal though, and there are canines I like better than others. I enjoy foxes a lot obviously, and their kin, tanuki!!!!!! I like maned wolves, and african wild dogs... ! It would be fun to do any piece with these, some day.

when it comes to canines, I particularly dislike the undifferentiated everyman 'it is a dog' archetype you see... the vague spitz-type, wolfish coyote husky gshep thing... I have difficulty drawing it, actually. I have an easier time with very specific things. I'm often not really sure how to proportion something like this in my own style, without just drawing something boring or flat. I really hang my hat on traits like 'has long, thin legs' 'has big, clunky paws' 'has a short, narrow torso' 'has a wide, barrel chest' etc, etc. But even the 'most specific' wolf/dog/coyote is low tier compared to things like ungulates, rodents, basically any bird, felids, mustelids, etc. Like, I would say lions are low on the list of felines for me, compared to other species like serval or bobcat or snow leopard etc, but that's still miles above in preference to a wolf or husky kind of thing.

I don't really feel much about wolf or coyote pack structures or behaviorism, either ... I don't connect it to myself. I've read a lot, don't get me wrong... but, it's not very stimulating.

I like some breeds of domesticated dog more than others ... I like rough collies a lot lately for some reason, and always fond of large, fat faced things like newfoundland or st. bernard. Things like brittany, japanese chin, munsterlander, are of interest.... my basic thing is border collies for sure, a childhood fixation that still lives in me, I quite like to draw a border collie still. I enjoy sighthounds.

As for real life, unfortunately I have found over the course of my life, I do not like being around dogs. I liked them as a kid... to play with them and be around them, to spectate, etc. But somehow growing up, I've become only more sensitive and, I find the scent of dogs really, REALLY REALLY bad, it has become very gross to me! It REALLY lingers on everything and feels like a thick film over my skin I have to wash off... a kind of oil, greasiness.. And I have no real tolerance for the mouth odor... or the shlappy mouth noises they make a lot... and barking, is so terrible...hurts my brain. By comparison, I like the odor of rats, guinea pigs, very soothing to me, even the stark ammonia of rabbit dwellings. I've found I like horse smell too... ferrets also smell rather nice to me. This kind of thing is all about preference... I don't find all odors are created equal. Dog is just quite nasty...!

As I've gotten older too, I've... lost all my faith in dogowners and, dogs I meet... the amount that are, neglected, and have completely broken body language due to poor training/communication, languishing in confusion and expectations; I find myself often very depressed in the company of dogs, while they often throw me mixed signals, strange body language, bleeding insecurity and uncertainty in their every motion, completely undersocialized with both dogs and humans, so often an animal so unsure of itself due to lacking the grounding a pack animal really needs ... no structure. I pity dogs lot in life in America, a lot... such a staple, everyman thing, that ... nobody thinks they need to do anything special, or learn anything, to have one.... it just, is there, and, you own it. Many people do not concerns themselves with communicating clearly and consistently, or on its own terms. I feel like dogs do their best to meet everyone halfway, but the result can be so frankenstein.

I often feel pretty weird interacting with dogs... and often the circumstances are not favorable, like someone on a property we lived on had an unleashed, unstable unfixed dog presenting a danger to everything around it .... living rural, a lot of people just kind of ... let their dogs show up ... wherever ... as a child this was like wheeee random event, but as an adult, I mostly feel concern and fear haha. I know now that even people who own a dog that has attacked people and other dogs, live often in denial and are poor reports of their own animal's history. Dogs that I knew for a fact attacked both people and animals, would be offleash with a flippant owner saying "he's friendly, don't worry". I don't know any random dog's triggers and aversions ... and chances are their owner doesn't prioritize them either.

All this to say, I'm not a dog person. I don't hate them, I don't resent them... I feel very bad for dogs, I wish their lives could be better. I don't think I would ever personally want to own a dog... I do not think I, the human being that I am, am even social enough to properly support a dog's needs WRT other companions of its own kind and familiar exposure to a wide variety of humans. I'm way too much of a hermit...