How to Draw a Cartoon Dog
(the Easy Way)

Woof, woof! It's time to play fetch with those pencils as we learn how to draw a cartoon dog! Man's best friend has been a source of inspiration for countless cartoon characters such as Snoopy from Peanuts, canine sleuth Scooby Doo, Disney's Goofy and Pluto and Brian, one of the most intelligent members of the Griffin family in Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy. So, let's get those tails wagging and get started!

STEP-1: Doggie Doodles – Sketching out a Basic Shape
The first part of learning how to draw a cartoon dog is to sketch out a basic shape for the body which will form the basis of our cute canine character. First of all, draw a rectangular shape with a rounded end at the top. You see? Follow our lead and you can't go wrong!

STEP-2: Going for Walkies with Some More Details
Now we've got the basic shape of how to draw a cartoon dog, we can start adding some doggie details to bring our canine character to life! To start, draw a large 'U' shape for the snout, followed by a curved horizontal line along the top as in our illustration. Next, sketch in some lines for our four-legged friend's legs.

STEP-3: Let's give our Four-legged Friend Some Features
It's time to add some more features to our cartoon dog so this pooch can step out on all fours! Starting at the top of the head, draw a jagged line to represent fur, then draw an upside-down 'V' shape for the ear.

For the next step in how to draw a cartoon dog, draw two lines at an angle for our cute canine's eyebrows, followed by two small circles for the eyes. A dog's vision isn't as good as ours, but they are very good at detecting movement. 

Who threw that stick? Now it's time to add a nose so our perfect pooch can sniff out some tasty snacks! All dogs have an amazing sense of smell, but did you know that in some breeds, such as bloodhounds, this sense is up to 100 million times more sensitive than humans? 

Our cartoon dog can certainly sense a great talent like yours! After this, draw a tongue poking out on the left hand side of our cartoon dog, then finish off the legs you started in the previous step by adding four paws. Finally, no pooch is complete without a wagging tail to show you how happy he is! Let's add one now just behind the hind leg.

STEP-4: Take the Lead by Giving This Pooch Some Personality!
Our cartoon dog is almost ready to go for walkies, but first, we just need to add some final details to really give this pooch some personality!

First, add another ear on the left-hand side, then draw some lines for the inner ears. It won't surprise you to learn that dogs also have an acute sense of hearing and can hear sounds far beyond our range of hearing. They can also move their ears to pinpoint the exact source of any sound – awesome! For the next step in how to draw a cartoon dog, let's sketch in the rest of those jowels or cheeks by drawing another curved line beneath the nose. 

Finish this off by drawing a vertical line that runs from the bottom of the nose and stops just about in the middle of the jowels. Next, add a series of dots to represent the whiskers on our cartoon dog. After this, draw a series of short vertical lines on each foot for our canine companion's toes, then draw a curved line for the chest area. Epic! Now, it's time to go fetch your pens as we add some canine color – you'd be barking mad to miss this part!

STEP-5: Let's go Crazy with Some Canine Color!
Now that our drawing is done, it's time to fetch your favorite pens and add some color to our cartoon dog!To start with, draw around the outline in dark gray before rubbing out any lines you don't need. 

Then, taking a medium gray pen, color in the body apart from the chest area. After this, take a black pen and draw around the outline of our perfect pooch's nose, before filling in the shape with a darker gray – remember to leave a small area white to represent highlight and that all-important wet nose look. 

Finally, take a lighter shade of gray and color in the chest area. We're done – now you know how to draw a cartoon dog! It's time to take the lead and go walkies with our awesome canine companion.