54 Inspirational Dog Quotes

Dogs have an unparalleled ability to touch our hearts and uplift our spirits. They bring joy, companionship, and unconditional love into our lives, often teaching us profound lessons without uttering a single word. If you're in need of a little motivation or simply want to celebrate the special bond between humans and their furry companions, look no further. We've gathered an inspiring collection of the top 54 dog quotes that capture the essence of what makes our four-legged friends truly remarkable. Whether you're a lifelong dog lover or just starting to appreciate their unique charm, these quotes are sure to resonate with you and provide a sense of warmth and encouragement. So, sit back, relax, and let these words remind you of the incredible connection we share with our canine companions.

1. “It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the fight in the dog that wins.” - Arthur G. Lewis

2. “the poor dog, in life the firmest friend, the first to welcome, the foremost to defend.” - George Gordon Byron

3. “I am a believer in free will. If my dog chooses to hate the whole human race except myself, it must be free to do so.” - Diana Wynne Jones

4. “A stray dog, I might understand," she said. "But this? You are too softhearted."No, Mabry," Ravus said. "I am not." He looked in Val's direction. "I think she wants to die."Maybe you can help her after all," Mabry said. "You're good at helping people die.” - Holly Black

5. “But with dogs, we do have "bad dog." Bad dog exists. "Bad dog! Bad dog! Stole a biscuit, bad dog!" The dog is saying, "Who are you to judge me? You human beings who’ve had genocide, war against people of different creeds, colors, religions, and I stole a biscuit?! Is that a crime? People of the world!""Well, if you put it that way, I think you’ve got a point. Have another biscuit, sorry.” - Eddie Izzard

6. “Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

7. “Something else changed when querinalo changed. Our immortality began to become—it is difficult to explain. None of us began to age, nor did we lose our vitality. Rather it was as if what was resilient within us began to stiffen. Traits of character became not merely habits, but defining elements. I suppose for me that it was fortunate — or unfortunate, given my current situation as your prisoner — that one of my defining traits has always been curiosity. Curiosity is one of the seeds of creativity, so that remained to me as well, but many of my associates were less fortunate."Remember that Virim recruited us all because we shared a certain idealism. However, I fear that not much time needs to pass for idealism to become dogmatism. This was the case for many of my associates. They became dogmatic, but not regarding the same things."Firekeeper wondered what dogs had to do with ideas, but thought she understood. Dogs, like wolves, were pack animals, but unlike wolves, dogs retained a juvenile desire to follow. So these spellcasters had been Virim's dogs, and when this stiffening happened, they had become even more doglike. It made sense in a way.” - Jane Lindskold

8. “When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.” - Deb Caletti

9. “In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money cannot buy...to wit--the wag of a dog's tail.” - Josh Billings

10. “The bathroom door burst open, and Molly came trotting out. The left half of her body had been shaved almost down to the skin. The right half was as shaggy as before. John emerged after her, brushing a layer of dog hair off his clothes.John said, "Well, that's done... It was Molly's idea. She wants to look like two different dogs when she's coming and going. She thinks it will make it easier for her to steal food... That's one complicated dog, Dave. Have you started on the bomb?” - David Wong

11. “In August of 1998, I completed Seize the Night, the sequel to my novel Fear Nothing, one of many of my books in which a dog is among the cast of principal characters. Every time I wrote a story that included a canine, my yearning for a dog grew. Readers and critics alike said I had an uncanny knack for writing convincingly about dogs and even for writing from a dog's point of view. When a story contained a canine character, I always felt especially inspired, as if some angel watching over me was trying to tell me that dogs were a fundamental part of my destiny if only I would listen.” - Dean Koontz

12. “Mrs. Darling loved to have everything just so, and Mr. Darling had a passion for being exactly like his neighbours; so, of course, they had a nurse. As they were poor, owing to the amount of milk the children drank, this nurse was a prim Newfoundland dog, called Nana, who had belonged to no one in particular until the Darlings engaged her. She had always thought children important, however, and the Darlings had become acquainted with her in Kensington Gardens, where she spent most of her spare time peeping into perambulators, and was much hated by careless nursemaids, whom she followed to their homes and complained of to their mistresses. She proved to be quite a treasure of a nurse.” - J.M. Barrie

13. “I heard the man and woman cry a warning as I frantically racked my brain for some sort of throat-repairing spell, which I was clearly about to need. Of course the only words that I actually managed to yell at the werewolf as he ran at me were, 'BAD DOG!'Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of blue light on my left. Suddenly, the werewolf seemed to smack into an invisible wall just inches in front of me...."You know," someone said off to my left, "I usually find a blocking spell to be a lot more effective than yelling 'Bad dog,' but maybe that's just me.” - Rachel Hawkins

14. “Derek caught my arm again as I started to move--at this rate, it was going to be as sore as my injured one."Dog," he said, jerking his chin toward the fenced yard. "It was inside earlier."Expecting to see a Doberman slavering at the fence, I followed his gaze to a little puff of white fur, the kind of dog women stick in their purses. It wasn't even barking, just staring at us, dancing in place."Oh, my God! It's a killer Pomeranian." I glanced up at Derek. "It's a tough call, but I think you can take him.” - Kelley Armstrong

15. “However, for all his affection and loyalty towards the animal, the dog would soon be leaving him - they would both be present at a celebratory dinner when they reached the roof, he reflected with a touch of gallows-humour, but the poodle would be in the pot.” - J.G. Ballard

16. “He methodically basted the dark skin of the Alsatian, which he had stuffed with garlic and herbs."One rule in life", he murmured to himself. "If you can smell garlic, everything is all right".” - J.G. Ballard

17. “No, my dog used to gaze at me,paying me the attention I need,the attention requiredto make a vain person like me understandthat, being a dog, he was wasting time,but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,he’d keep on gazing at mewith a look that reserved for me aloneall his sweet and shaggy life,always near me, never troubling me,and asking nothing.” - Pablo Neruda

18. “... it looked at me as it passed, smiling in that crazy-happy way that dogs do. And I started laughing. I mean, how can you not laugh at a dog running on the beach? But I was also kind of crying, too. Laughing and crying simultaneously hurts. It hurts and it's confusing.” - Em Bailey

19. “A dog has one aim in life... to bestow his heart.” - J. R. Ackerley

20. “Dogs wait for us faithfully.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

21. “If you live with dogs, you'll never run out of things to write about.” - Sharon Delarose

22. “Love-that which biologists, nervous about being misunderstood call "attachment"-fuels the bond between dog and master or mistress.” - John Bradshaw

23. “In the early 1980s, Graham worked hard to turn the Repository into a respectable business, rather than a ludicrous one: Graham's wife didn't like keeping the sperm at the Escondido estate. Not only had the house been picketed, but a Japanese trespasser had once made a run at the sperm, only to be nipped by a family dog.” - David Plotz

24. “Shigure Sohma: So anyway I was wondering if you could stop by the house and take a look at Tohru's cut. That is if it isn't a problem. Hatori Sohma: No problem. I'll stop by the house this evening. Shigure Sohma: Hmmm What's this Hatori I don't think I ever heard you sound so eager to come over. Could it be you have a secret crush on Tohru [long silence from the other end of the phone] Shigure Sohma: [shouts] I knew it You naughty naughty man you Hatori Sohma: No I was simply too amazed by your stupidity to say anything.” - Natsuki Takaya

25. “If you need help bark like a dog." - Gendry. "That's stupid. If I need help I'll shout help." - Arya” - George R.R. Martin

26. “Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives.” - John Galsworthy

27. “If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.” - Marjorie Garber

28. “For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love that we call a dog.” - Roger Caras

29. “While he has not, in my hearing, spoken the English language, he makes it perfectly plain that he understands it. And he uses his ears, tail, eyebrows, various rumbles and grunts, the slant of his great cold nose or a succession of heartrending sighs to get his meaning across.” - Jean Little

30. “It is a truism to say that the dog is largely what his master makes of him: he can be savage and dangerous, untrustworthy, cringing and fearful; or he can be faithful and loyal, courageous and the best of companions and allies.” - Ranulph Fiennes

31. “Understanding your dog and knowing how to control him, develop his potentials, and resolve behavior problems, emotional conflicts and frustrations are no less essential than love and respect.” - Michael W. Fox

32. “To lose the approbation of my dog is a thing too horrible to contemplate.” - Barbara Dana

33. “You can take a dog outside, but you can't make it pee” - Micah Amyx

34. “You ever hear a dog cry, Steve? You know, howling so loud it's almost unbearable?' He nodded. 'I reckon they howl like that because they're so hungry it hurts, and that's what I feel in me every day of my life. I'm so hungry to be somethin' - to be somebody. You hear me?' He did. 'I'm not lyin' down ever. Not for you. Not for anyone.' I ended it. 'I'm hungry, Steve.'Sometimes I think they're the best words I've ever said.'I'm hungry.” - Markus Zusak

35. “How come dog and dog owner are so alike?” - Hiroko Sakai

36. “When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog to see the sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten.” - Robert M. Pirsig

37. “A dog can express more with his tail in minutes than an owner can express with his tongue in hours.” - Karen Davison

38. “Would you kick her ass already?" Dick said, shoving me back toward Missy. "Come on, Stretch, man up. You do better than this! Get mad."I nodded, rolling a dislocated shoulder back into place with a grunt and staggering back toward my opponent. Behind me, Zeb yelled, "She tried to hurt Fitz!" He turned to Gabriel and Dick. "That'll get her mad."Gabriel rolled his eyes. "She's been framed for murder twice over, shot in the back, her arms were set on fire, and her parents are being held hostage. You think tampered dog water is what's going to make her angry?" "You tried to hurt my dog!" I wheezed as I lurched toward a grinning Missy.” - Molly Harper

39. “If a man whistles at you, don't turn around. You are a lady not a dog.” - Niall Horan

40. “Better a live dog than a dead lion.” - Paul Hoffman

41. “You always fed strays and bent down to talk to the dogs you met on the street, looking straight into their eyes as if they were old friends. (Maybe they are, you said. From another life.) You liked to go to the pound and look at them. You tried to send them messages of comfort. I couldn’t go because I started crying the one time I tried. All those eyes and the barks like sobs.” - Francesca Lia Block

42. “...some people won't even own a dog for fear it will die - you can't bubble-wrap your heart...” - John Geddes

43. “Dog becomes a good friend with man whether the man himself is good or not!” - Mehmet Murat ildan

44. “Slowly, deliberately, the dog turned from the black wolf and walked toward the man. He was a dog, and dogs chose men.” - Jim Kjelgaard

45. “We made our choice, he said. We hunted for them, we guarded their brats. God knows, we helped them make a civilization, didn't we? And why? I said I didn't know; it was beyond me. Because, he said, we thought they knew how to take care of things. How to keep the world full of meat and flowers.” - Clive Barker

46. “Each dog marks a section of our lives, and in the end, we feed them to the dark, burying them there while we carry on.” - Toby Barlow

47. “It’s a mad, mad world when your best friend is a dog and your second-best friend is an automatic rifle, but such was life in the Aze.” - John Green

48. “I'm a dog lover and sex addict. Those two things are unrelated.
” - Dark Jar Tin Zoo

49. “Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made (man) is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one... that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.” - Mark Twain

50. “I wondered if having conversations with your dog was less crazy than babbling to yourself when no one else was around. I guess it depended on whether or not the dog answered.” - Deb Baker

51. “You can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his dog....” - Peary Perry

52. “My cat brought me a toy. I thanked her and threw it. She sat there gave me a look that made me realize people and dogs are the crazy ones.” - Dan Harmon

53. “The dog sniffed at the bonfire like a ship with a wet nose docking at a foreign port." -Mgru” - Stephen Moles

54. “I hear Warner laugh.I see him smile.It's the kind of smile that transforms him into someone else entirely, the kind of smile that puts stars in his eyes and a dazzle on his lips and I realize I've never seen him like this before. I've never seen his teeth--so straight, so white, nothing less than perfect. A flawless, flawless exterior for a boy with a black, black heart. It's hard to believe there's blood on the hands of the person I'm staring at. He looks soft and vulnerable--so human. His eyes are squinting from all his grinning and his cheeks are pink form the cold.He has dimples.He's easily the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.And I wish I'd never seen it.” - Tahereh Mafi