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Dog ASCII Art

Ascii art dog designs, from one-line faces to a dachshund and a puppy with a ball, drawn with keyboard characters. Tap one to copy; use the code block button for Discord.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

One-line dogs

One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 9 wide
One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 5 wide · traditional

Small dogs

6 lines, 13 wide
7 lines, 10 wide
5 lines, 13 wide

Bigger dogs

5 lines, 28 wide
7 lines, 20 wide
8 lines, 17 wide

Made with our image converter

We drew a simple dog face shape and ran it through the image to ASCII converter on this site. Braille pieces pack eight dots into each character, so they look smoother but rely on a font with Braille Patterns.

7 lines, 18 wide
9 lines, 26 wide
4 lines, 10 wide

13 pieces on this page. All are drawn for this site except those marked traditional, which have been shared online for years without a known author. Copy one and paste it into a code block, a terminal or any app that uses a monospace font; in a proportional font the lines drift apart. Make your own with the text to ASCII generator or the image to ASCII converter.

Key facts

  • Text dogs use either a front view with floppy ears drawn as brackets or slashes, or a side view where the body is a long horizontal line.
  • The dachshund is the most popular big text dog because its long body is already a line of characters.
  • The small dog face uses ᴥ, LATIN LETTER AIN (U+1D25), which is not ASCII but displays on phones and modern browsers.
  • One-line dog faces work without a code block, small dogs suit Discord and Slack code blocks, and bigger dogs suit READMEs and terminals.
  • Braille mode in the image converter keeps a dog's ears and snout readable even at 20 characters wide.

How are text dogs built?

Dogs are harder than cats in text because their ears hang down instead of pointing up, and their snout sticks out. Most text dogs solve this in one of two ways:

  • Front view with floppy ears. The ears become brackets or slashes on either side of the head, / \ and \_/, and the nose sits in the middle, often as ᴥ, Y or /\.
  • Side view. The body becomes a long horizontal line, which is why the dachshund is the most popular big text dog: its shape is already a line of characters.

ASCII art dog: picking a size

Use Pick Why
Chat message or comment One-line face Works without a code block
Discord or Slack Small dog in a code block Fits a phone screen
README, code comment, terminal Bigger dog Full width monospace

For a dog that looks like your own, start with a clear photo against a plain background and run it through the image to ASCII converter. Braille mode keeps ears and snout readable even at 20 characters wide. Whichever ascii art dog you choose, check it in the app first, because a proportional font is what turns a dog into scattered characters.

Frequently asked questions

Basics

What is the small dog face with ᴥ?
ᴥ is LATIN LETTER AIN (U+1D25), a phonetic letter whose shape looks like a dog's nose and mouth. It is not ASCII, so a few old devices may show a box, but phones and modern browsers display it. If you see a box, use a dog face made only from keyboard characters instead.
Why is a dog harder to draw in text than a cat?
A dog's ears hang down instead of pointing up, and its snout sticks out, so the simple slash-and-dot recipe for cats does not work. Text dogs solve it with a front view where the ears become brackets, or a side view where the body is a line.
What is the most popular big ASCII dog?
The dachshund. Its long body is already a horizontal line of characters, so a side view reads clearly in text without clever tricks. It needs a monospace font to hold its shape. Paste it into a code block, a terminal or a README, where every character gets the same width.

Where it works

Can I put a dog in my Discord bio?
Discord's About Me supports code blocks, so a small dog under about 30 characters wide usually fits. Test it on your phone, where the box is narrower. Wrap it in three backticks so Discord uses a monospace font, and avoid wider pieces that wrap and break the shape.
Which dog works in a comment without a code block?
Use a one-line dog face. A single line has no second row to line up with, so it survives chat bubbles and comment boxes that use proportional fonts. Small and bigger dogs need a code block, a terminal or a plain text file.

How it works

How do I draw a dog face by hand?
Use the front view: put the ears on either side of the head as brackets or slashes such as / \ and _/, then place the nose in the middle as ᴥ, Y or /. Add two dots or o characters above the nose for eyes.
How do I make an ASCII puppy from my own photo?
Pick a clear photo against a plain background, open the image to ASCII converter and try Braille mode, which keeps the ears and snout readable even at 20 characters wide. The conversion runs in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded.

Tips & limits

How do I keep dog ASCII art lined up when I paste it?
Paste it where a monospace font is used: a Discord or Slack code block, a terminal, a code comment or a plain text file. Use the Code block button for Discord. In a normal chat bubble the spaces shrink and the dog falls apart.
Which dog size should I pick?
Pick a one-line face for chat messages and comments, a small dog in a code block for Discord or Slack because it fits a phone screen, and a bigger dog for a README, code comment or terminal where there is full monospace width.
Why does my puppy look squashed after pasting?
The app is probably using a proportional font, which shrinks spaces and narrows letters, so the lines drift out of alignment. Paste the dog into a code block or a monospace editor and, if it is still too wide, choose a smaller dog.

More ASCII art and tools