Animals that start with D

Dachshunds are a small dog with a long body and short legs, sometimes called a sausage dog. Some people say that a dachshund is "two dogs long and half a dog high". They are the shape they are because they were bred to hunt animals that live down burrows, such as badgers and rabbits. Dachshunds come in a variety of colours, and can have long or short hair.

A dalmatian is a kind of medium sized, slender, elegant dog that is white with either black or brown spots.

A dapple grey horse has white spots surrounded by dark hair, making an attractive pattern. Young horses that are dapple grey often slowly turn white.

A deer is a kind of animal that eats grass and leaves. It grows horns called antlers on its head. A male deer is called a stag, hart or buck and a female deer is called a hind, doe or cow and a baby deer is called a fawn.

A dingo is a kind of yellow dog that was introduced to Australia many hundreds of years ago. They howl, but they do not bark. When people started farming sheep in Australia, the dingos killed the sheep, so people built a fence right across Australia to keep the dingos out.

Dinosaurs lived on the Earth millions of years ago. They came in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. Some dinosaurs were tall and walked on two legs, others walked on all fours. Some dinosaurs ate grass and leaves, other dinosaurs ate smaller dinosaurs.

Doberman dogs, also called dobermann Pinschers, are a large, slim dog originally from Germany. They were used most often as guard dogs or police dogs, but are now most common as pets. They are an extremely loyal, protective, intelligent dog. They have developed a reputation for aggression, this has been selectively bred out in recent years but the reputation remains and is still popularised on TV and in movies.

People have been keeping dogs as pets for thousands of years. Dogs can be used to herd animals like sheep, and if they are well trained they will obey commands like sit and fetch.

Dogs come in a huge variety of different colours and sizes, from tiny Chihuahuas right up to huge dogs like the Great Dane. A female dog is called a bitch and a baby dog is called a puppy. Modern dogs were domesticated from wolves, and were originally kept as hunting companions.

Dolphins are a medium sized animal that lives in the water, mainly the sea but they are also found in lakes and rivers. They are not fish, as they need to come to the surface to breathe, the same as we do when we are swimming. Dolphins eat mostly fish. They are intelligent and can be taught tricks.

Donkeys are related to the horse, and are used in a similar way for riding and pulling loads around. Donkeys are much smaller than horses and are from the desert, so they do not need as much food as horses. A male donkey is called a jack and a female donkey is called a jennet or jenny.