How to Draw a Dog
This puppy sits facing you, and its ears set the look. They hang down the sides of the round head, overlapping its edge, instead of standing up. Keep that head circle light at first so it is easy to fix before the ears go on.
The face and the sit
Two round eyes with pupils come next, then a muzzle oval with a button nose near its top and an open mouth with a tongue. Draw the muzzle first. That puts the nose in the right place. The stout body is wider at the bottom, which makes the puppy look like it is sitting, and it has two front paws. A collar with a round tag and a curling tail finish the dog.
Grid and practice page
Page 1 is a 3 by 3 grid: seven numbered steps with the new lines in orange, the finished dog in the eighth box and an empty dashed frame in the ninth. Page 2 puts a small finished dog and the seven steps in words at the top, with one big box underneath for a bigger puppy. The tag says ages 6 to 8. Every part is a circle, an oval or a soft curve, so younger children can follow along if an adult draws beside them. An animation of about 16 seconds builds the puppy line by line, and a dashed gray outline of it is there to trace. Scaling to fit makes all nine boxes smaller and harder to draw in, so print the A4 or Letter page at 100 percent.
Draw a dog in 7 steps
New lines in each step are orange. Where a new part covers an earlier line, that bit turns dashed gray: rub it out.
Draw a big round head.
Add two floppy ears hanging down the sides.
Draw two big round eyes with pupils.
Add a muzzle, a button nose and a happy open mouth with a tongue.
Draw a stout body and two front paws together.
Add a collar with a round tag.
Finish with a wagging tail curling up.
Tips to make your dog drawing easy
- Keep the head circle light so it is easy to fix before the ears go on.
- Let the ears overlap the edge of the head; they should hang, not stand up.
- Draw the muzzle oval before the nose, then place the nose near its top.
- Make the body wider at the bottom so the puppy looks like it is sitting.
- Play the short animation first, then pause it on each step if needed.
- Ink the final lines with a felt-tip pen and erase the pencil underneath.
Dog outline to print and trace
Print the finished outline on its own: trace over it with a pencil to learn the shapes, or use the dashed tracing sheet for younger kids who are still building pencil control. Both fit A4 and US Letter.
Color your dog
Finished drawing? Print one of our 2 dog coloring pages to color the same character in 2 difficulty levels, or color your own drawing with the step sheet beside you.
More dog activities
Frequently asked questions
How many steps are in the dog drawing?
Seven. The steps go head, floppy ears, eyes, muzzle with nose and tongue, body with two paws, collar with tag, and finally the tail. A finished dog and an empty box for your child's own try fill the last two spaces in the grid.
Why draw the muzzle before the nose?
The muzzle oval shows where the button nose belongs, near its top. The muzzle goes down first, then the nose and the open mouth with a tongue.
Do the ears have to be floppy?
The sheet draws them floppy, hanging over the edge of the head. Once a child knows the steps, swapping in pointy ears is an easy way to make a different dog.
Is there a way to warm up before drawing freehand?
Yes. This page has a dashed gray outline of the whole puppy to trace, and a drawing animation of about 16 seconds that builds it line by line.
About this printable
- Made with AI assistance (vector drawing authored by a language model) and checked by automated tests and an AI reviewer.
- Checked by automated tests and an AI reviewer on 22 Oct 2026.
- Free for personal and single-classroom use. See the license. Read the license · How these are made · Report a problem.
- Vector PDF, 2 pages, 186×254 mm art box — prints edge-safe on A4 and US Letter.
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