SkullThe bones of the head, with a long muzzle in front of the braincase. Its shape differs a great deal from breed to breed.
MandibleThe lower jaw. It holds the lower teeth and hinges on the skull.
Canine teethLarge, cone-shaped, curved teeth near the front of each jaw, one on each side above and below.
Cervical vertebraeThe seven vertebrae of the neck.
Thoracic vertebraeThe thirteen vertebrae of the chest, each joined to a pair of ribs. Their spines stand tallest above the shoulders.
RibsThirteen pairs. Nine pairs reach the breastbone through their cartilages; the last four do not.
SternumThe breastbone: a row of eight pieces along the underside of the chest, which stay separate bones.
ScapulaThe shoulder blade: a long, narrow plate with a ridge, the spine, down the middle of its outer side.
HumerusThe bone of the upper foreleg, from the shoulder to the elbow.
RadiusThe front bone of the forearm. It gets wider toward the wrist.
UlnaThe rear bone of the forearm. Its top end, the olecranon, sticks up behind the elbow.
CarpalsThe seven small bones of the wrist, in two rows. A dog stands with its wrist off the ground.
DewclawThe first toe of the front foot. It is short, has two bones where the other toes have three, and does not reach the ground.
MetacarpalsThe five bones of the front foot between the wrist and the toes. The first is much the shortest.
PhalangesThe toe bones, three in each of the four main toes. The last one is pointed and curved, and the claw grows round it.
Rear half 11
Lumbar vertebraeThe seven long, strong vertebrae of the loins, between the chest and the hips.
SacrumThree vertebrae joined into one bone, which holds the hip bones to the spine.
Caudal vertebraeThe vertebrae of the tail. The first few are built like the other vertebrae; the rest get smaller and simpler toward the tip.
PelvisEach hip bone is three bones joined into one: the ilium, the ischium and the pubis. The ilium meets the sacrum.
FemurThe thigh bone, from the hip to the knee.
PatellaThe kneecap: a long, narrow bone at the front of the knee joint.
TibiaThe larger of the two bones of the lower leg.
FibulaA slender bone that runs the whole length of the tibia, close beside it.
TarsalsThe seven bones of the hock, the joint that matches a human ankle.
CalcaneusThe heel bone, one of the tarsals. It points up and back, high above the ground.
MetatarsalsThe bones of the hind foot between the hock and the toes. Four are long; the first is usually very small.
How this list was compiled: Every bone name, count and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30, for facts only and with nothing copied: (1) S. Sisson, The Anatomy of the Domestic Animals, 2nd edition, 1914, the chapter Skeleton of the Dog, read in the Internet Archive scan at https://archive.org/details/anatomyofdomesti00siss; (2) A. Chauveau, The Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals, translated by G. Fleming, 1873, the sections on the Carnivora, https://archive.org/details/comparativeanato00chaurich; (3) Wikipedia, Dog anatomy and Dewclaw; (4) American Kennel Club, What Are Dewclaws on Dogs. A name or count that only one source gives is left out. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain shapes. Own original schematic drawing; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
This labeled dog skeleton shows a standing dog from the left side, inside the outline of its body, with each bone named. It is drawn as a front half and a rear half so the names stay readable.
Read the full guide
Front half, then rear half
The page opens on the front half with the names written in: skull, neck, chest and front leg. Tap a name to read about that bone, then switch to the rear half for the loins, hips, hind leg and tail. Press Quiz me and the labels come off: the dog skeleton anatomy quiz asks one bone at a time.
What is particular to a dog
A dog stands on its toes, so the wrist and the heel bone are well off the ground. It has thirteen pairs of ribs, a breastbone of eight pieces and large canine teeth. The first toe of the front foot, the dewclaw, is short and does not reach the ground.
The joint halfway up the hind leg is the hock, the dog's ankle. The knee is higher, at the front of the thigh.
Radius in front, ulna behind: the top of the ulna is the point of the elbow.
Questions and answers
How many ribs does a dog have?
Thirteen pairs. Nine pairs reach the breastbone through their cartilages and the last four pairs do not. Each pair is joined to one of the thirteen chest vertebrae.
How many vertebrae does a dog have?
A dog has 7 neck, 13 chest and 7 loin vertebrae, and a sacrum made of 3 joined together. The number in the tail differs from dog to dog.
Do dogs have a collarbone?
Only a trace of one. A dog's clavicle is a small plate of bone or cartilage inside a muscle in front of the shoulder, and it joins no other bone. It is too small to show on this drawing.
What is a dewclaw?
The dewclaw is the first toe of a dog's front foot, set higher than the other four. It has two toe bones where the others have three, and it does not touch the ground when the dog stands.