Some of these idioms  below will make you laugh and others might have you explain “aha!” Idioms can be a lot of fun and sound great when you use them correctly. Now you can practice the following idioms on your friends!

The English language is full of idioms — a combination of words with a figurative meaning that’s different from its literal meaning — and that includes such expressions that use “dog” or “dogs.” How many of these have you heard?

“Sad as a hound dog's eye.”
Meaning: Very sad, indeed.

“Dog my cats!”
Meaning: Oh my!

“Raining cats and dogs.”
Meaning: Very heavy rainfall.

“Like a dog with two tails.”
Meaning: Very happy.

“Three dog night.”
Meaning: Very cold; referring to the number of dog to cuddle up with to stay warm.

“Why keep a dog and bark yourself?”
Meaning: Why hire someone to do something, then do it yourself?

“A dog's breakfast/dinner.”
Meaning: A mixture of all kinds of things.

“Gone to the dogs.”
Meaning: Something has lost all its good qualities and gone bad.

Which idioms are your favorites in the list above? There are more idioms to discover on Dogtime as well if you'd really like to learn all the dog idioms there are. That way the next time you're experiencing a cold night, you can say “It's a three dog night!”

Well, we hope you have three dogs otherwise you may want to borrow a few! 😉 Nah, just kidding. You will have to bundle up to stay warm, though!