Dogs in Equestria

[Radiance64 7,053]

I know that dogs haven't been shown very often in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but from what we have seen, I've noticed a very stark contrast between portrayals.

First, we had Applejack's dog, cute little Winona:

We have an absolutely normal dog here, nothing unusual about her at all.

But then, after a while, we got these guys:

The Diamond Dogs, sentient, somewhat intelligent, ape-like monstrosities, seemingly all male. What's their deal? Are they mutants? Monsters? I don't know, but for some reason, they've been the only representation of male dogs(or bastards, if you will) in the MLP universe so far, and Winona has been the only female...

Okay, maybe this all doesn't really mean anything, but could there be a reason for this all being the way it is? What are the Diamond Dogs, really? Do they coexist alongside normal dogs like Winona, or are they entirely seperate? Could a normal dog also become a Diamond Dog, or maybe even vice versa? Can they even breed with each other? Do they need to? Discuss.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

Dogs in Equestria? Dogs come in all forms in Equestria. Ponies don't look like ponies, so why do dogs have to look like dogs?

 

Pictured: Dogs

[Kamil 315]

Diamond Dogs aren't dogs, just like Timberwolves aren't wolves. There are some visible similarities, but like many things I could name on Earth the title given to those cruel, barely sentient creatures is only due to a passing resemblance.

[Rolls Royce 606]

I never thought deeply about this before, I just always thought the Diamond Dogs are an entirely different type of dog compared to cute little Winona.  I'm sure there are also normal male dogs and female Diamond Dogs, or else these two won't exist.

[Betez 1,734]

Hmm..

 

I feel like Diamond Dogs are a completely different species from regular dogs, and therefore couldn't produce offspring together. I honestly wish they'd show more dogs, or at least have Applejack explain when/where/how she got her dog.

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Interesting.

 

My opinion on this is that they are different species.

We have DOGS, like Winona; and DIAMOND DOGS, like those guys. They are too different to be close enough to breed.

And i guess that there are male dogs and female diamond dogs. The show just didn't show them to us yet.

 

Like turians until the Omega DLC XD

[Radiance64 7,053]

Hmm..I feel like Diamond Dogs are a completely different species from regular dogs, and therefore couldn't produce offspring together. I honestly wish they'd show more dogs, or at least have Applejack explain when/where/how she got her dog.

Yeah, honestly showing a pony or two walking around with another dog would be enough for me, but with the lack of it comes this warped thought process out of me, lol. Not that I care that much(and I'm sure the creators never really cared either lol), but you know, just a little something would be enough. Diamond Dog origins would be nice too but that's rather unlikely, a return at least might nit be so far-fetched though.

[himanuts 165]

Actually I've pondered about this before. Looking at how other animal species could also have sentient counterparts (like cats for example). Maybe not all members of the same species are at the same level of intelligence. Maybe ponies are the only one, or one of the only species to have all of their members live in an advanced society. Dogs, cats and other may have well developed societies, but there still have a large faction of them that remain rather primitve. Like some have evolved and adapted further than others.

 

I think another possible example from te show besides the Diamond Dogs could be horses. The S1 finale kind of implied a lack of sentience from the mouse turned horses. While in S3 we where introduced to what appear to be high ranking horse goverment representatives from another country. 

 

Ponies have always come of to me as maybe evolving from horses. So ponies it'd make sense for horses to be the ones to have non-sentient members in their species. Possibly being a more primitive species.

 

And we could even have in-between lack of sentience and full on sentience that live in advanced societies. Cows seem pretty sentient, but rather live a simple farm cattle life. Buffalos also being sentient live a rather primitive life as well.

Edited February 3, 2013 by himanuts

[poniesforfun 716]

Same can be said about Iron Will and the talking cows or buffalos. Far as I'm concerned all three are completely separate species from one another.