toy dog

noun

one of any of several breeds of very small dogs, as the Yorkshire terrier, English toy spaniel, Shih Tzu, and Pomeranian.

Origin of toy dog

First recorded in 1800–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

That is more similar to how we do it—a human child playing with a little plastic toy dog and a big puffy stuffed one, will likely figure out they are the same animal.
Why AI Needs a Genome - Issue 108: Change | Lina Zeldovich | December 8, 2021 | Nautilus
One little girl sat clutching a toy dog, silently staring out a window until her mother came.
What if the Founding Fathers Saw Newtown? | Michael Daly | December 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Pickings, trembling like a toy dog in zero weather, reached the green in ten strokes, and took three more puts.
Murder in Any Degree | Owen Johnson
This last was like a porcelain toy dog, and looked brittle, as if its thin legs would snap if much handled.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, V. 5, April 1878 | Various
She had never gotten another toy dog, not even as a contrast to Tawny Adonis.
The Gorgeous Girl | Nalbro Bartley

Also, let alone her lost toy-dog gun, I got all her ammunition and her rifle, while she was grabbing in Miss Paulette's trunk.
The La Chance Mine Mystery | Susan Carleton Jones
Everyone knows what a cold is, and the toy dog's cold should be treated like one's own.
A Manual of Toy Dogs | Mrs. Leslie Williams

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