Domestic dogs often display the remnants of counter-shading, a colloquial natural camouflage pattern. The familiar basis of countershading is that an corporeal that is lit from above will appear disburden on its upper division and darker on its lower half where it will unusually be in its own shade. This is a pattern that predators can learn to watch for. A countershaded animal will have dark coloring on its upper surfaces and radiant coloring below. Solitary reminder of this pattern is that many breeds will have the odd "blaze", stripe, or "star" of white fur on their chest or undersides.

There are multitudinous dog breeds, with over 800 being recognized by divers kennel clubs worldwide. Numberless dogs, especially outside the United States of America and Western Europe, belong to no recognized breed. A few basic breed types have evolved gradually during the domesticated dog's relationship with humans over the last 10,000 or another years, but all modern breeds are of relatively recent derivation. Despite these differences, dogs are able to distinguish Canine Vaccinations dogs from other kinds of animal.