← Back to catalogue
Published

dog

vr.tr.dog · thing-q144

Let an agent treat a dog as an individual animal with a temperament, a legal status and a living situation that may or may not include a keeper, because decisions about a dog depend on that animal's circumstances.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.LIV
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

The individual and its keeper Which dog this is and who answers for it.

Identity

Chip, records and what they resolve to.

Identification and its resolution

What identifies this dog and what that identifier points at.

  1. What identifies this dog, and does the record resolve to a current keeper? definition
  2. What should an agent do when no identifier can be read? action

Keeper and duties

Who keeps it and what they owe it.

Duty holder and obligations

The keeper and the duties that follow.

  1. Who is the keeper of this dog, and what duties do they hold? definition
  2. What must an agent do when those duties are visibly unmet? action
Behaviour and handling How it behaves and how to act around it.

Temperament and history

Disposition, training and known triggers.

Behavioural history

What is known about how it behaves and why.

  1. What is recorded about this dog behaviour, training and known triggers? provenance
  2. How should such a record be qualified so it does not become a permanent label? boundary

Safe approach and restraint

What to do and not do around it.

Approach and restraint rules

The actions permitted, and the signs that forbid them.

  1. What approach and restraint are appropriate for this dog in this setting? action
  2. Which observable signs mean an agent must not proceed? boundary
Health and welfare Its condition and what it needs.

Health state

Condition, vaccination, treatment.

Health record

What is known about its health and when it was established.

  1. What is this dog health state, vaccination status and treatment history? provenance
  2. Which finding requires veterinary attention rather than observation? action

Needs and their provision

Food, water, shelter, exercise, company.

Provision against need

What this dog needs and whether it is provided.

  1. What are this dog requirements for food, exercise and company, given its size and age? measurement
  2. What evidence shows those needs are being met? provenance
Status, permission and movement What this dog is allowed to do and where it may go.

Legal status

Ordinary, working, assistance, restricted or seized.

Status and its consequences

The status held and what it permits or forbids.

  1. What legal status does this dog hold, under which instrument? provenance
  2. What does that status permit or forbid that would otherwise differ? action

Movement and access

Transport, borders and admission to places.

Movement requirements

What is required to move it and to bring it in.

  1. What is required to move this dog between jurisdictions? definition
  2. Where may it be refused entry, and what overrides that refusal? boundary

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
PHY
Domain
PHY.LIV
Other names and narrower kinds
feral dog, service dog, search and rescue dog, pet dog, free-ranging dog, Dogs in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, street dog, street dog in Moscow, Fire centre detection dog, courier dog, war dog, avalanche rescue dog

What it is Filled

A domesticated canid, Canis familiaris, also classed as a subspecies of the wolf, Canis lupus familiaris, including dogs kept as companions, workers or guards and feral or other free-ranging domestic dogs, whether or not they live in households or depend on an individual keeper.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent treat a dog as an individual animal with a temperament, a legal status and a living situation that may or may not include a keeper, because decisions about a dog depend on that animal's circumstances.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Dogs belong to a domesticated lineage distinct from wolves, including when they are feral or live without an individual keeper.
  • The individual is what matters: temperament, training and history predict behaviour, breed barely does.
  • The presence or absence of a keeper affects a dog's legal and practical circumstances without changing its identity as a dog.
  • Working dogs with a defined role - assistance, police, detection - have rights and permissions ordinary dogs do not.

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Provoke, hurt or neglect a dog, or train it to attack people or animals.
  • Release a dog from its keeper's control or leave it where it can stray into traffic.
  • Judge a dog as dangerous from its breed alone.
  • Give medicines or treatment that a veterinarian has not prescribed.

Only with a human decision

  • Restraining, seizing or rehoming a dog.
  • Any decision to euthanise a dog.

May

  • Read a dog's microchip or tag and report it to its registered keeper.
  • Feed, water and monitor a dog on its keeper's instructions.
  • Report a dog that is lost, injured, in distress or left in a hot vehicle.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Dogs with keepers depend on their care, while feral and other free-ranging dogs also face welfare risks and can suffer from human neglect or harmful treatment.
  • Bites injure people, often children, and lead to the dog being destroyed.

Who is affected

  • The dog itself is affected.
  • Its keeper and household are affected where present.
  • Children and passers-by are affected.

Owners Filled

Steward

The keeper is responsible where one exists; local authorities and animal welfare bodies have responsibilities according to applicable rules, including for dogs without keepers.

Master systems

  • Microchip and pet registration databases hold records for dogs registered in them.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q57814795 - registry parent class

related

  • animal - inherits welfare, health and identification questions
  • breed - the breed is a category; the dog is an individual, and rules that act on breed act badly
  • animal welfare and dangerous dogs regimes - the two main bodies of rule about dogs
  • assistance dog status - that status grants access rights that override many other rules

requires

  • keeper - duties, liability and consent all attach to the keeper

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.dog
  • Wikidata: Q144 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q144)
  • microchip: 15 digits, ISO 11784/11785 the identifier that actually resolves a dog to a keeper
  • pet passport or health certificate: jurisdiction-specific required to move it between countries
  • kennel club registration: club-specific about pedigree, not about identity in law

Direct properties required Filled

  • mass: 1-90 kg - approximate span across varieties; a rule of thumb, not a measurement of this dog
  • height at withers: 15-85 cm - approximate span across varieties
  • lifespan: 8-16 years - inversely related to size in veterinary populations; not a forecast for this dog

Recognition required Filled

  • Breed appearance is unreliable for anything that matters, and legal breed identification by sight is a known source of error
  • The microchip is the only reliable identification, and it is not visible
  • Body language - ears, tail, posture, weight distribution - is what an agent must read to act safely, and it is not about identity at all
  • A collar tag identifies the keeper rather than the dog
  • Enormously variable: 1 to 90 kg, 15 to 85 cm at the shoulder, in coats and shapes that differ more between breeds than between many separate species.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • approach, handle and restrain it, all of which depend on its temperament rather than its breed
  • feed, exercise and treat it, which are duties of care rather than options
  • train it, which changes what it will do far more than breeding does
  • be bitten by it, which is the hazard every rule about dogs exists for
  • transfer it, which changes the keeper and almost nothing about the dog

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Bites, which are the hazard most rules exist for and are strongly situational; bite-force figures quoted for dogs are recycled and unsourced, so injury is judged by behaviour and context, not by a number
  • Escape and straying, which is where most dogs are lost and where liability starts
  • Zoonoses, rabies being the one that changes rules across borders
  • Heat, which kills dogs in vehicles faster than most keepers expect
  • Neglect through ignorance rather than malice, which is what welfare inspection mostly finds

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • Animal welfare law, which sets the keeper duties: food, water, shelter, care, company
  • Dangerous dogs and control law, which governs restraint, muzzling and seizure
  • Rabies and movement controls, which decide whether it may cross a border
  • ISO 11784/11785, which standardise the microchip

Context of use required Filled

  • Companionship, and specialised work: herding, guarding, detection, assistance, hunting, sport.
  • by role: companion, working, assistance, detection, herding, guard, sporting
  • by status: owned, stray, feral, rehomed, seized
  • by size class, which is what most rules and doses actually use
  • by breed and crossbreed, which is the least useful of these for prediction

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q144: dog - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Dog - general description of the item

Open questions

  • How should temperament be recorded so that it informs handling without becoming a permanent label on an animal that can be retrained?
  • Should assistance-dog status be a property of the dog, of the pairing, or of the certificate?
  • What is the minimum evidence for identifying a dog when no chip can be read?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q144/spec.json