Doggo is affectionate internet slang for a dog, popularized on Reddit and Twitter in the mid-2010s and often paired with "pupper" for smaller dogs.

Where did Doggo come from?

The modern slang spread through the /r/doggos subreddit, launched on June 6th, 2015, and viral image-macro posts on Reddit like the "What are aninmals?" chart on /r/meirl.

What does Doggo mean?

In current usage doggo just means dog, said affectionately; an older, unrelated phrase "lie doggo" meant to stay hidden and quiet, dating to the late 19th century.

How do you use Doggo?

Doggo is typically used in dog-photo captions and category-chart jokes alongside terms like pupper and floof, or in copypastas like the "pupper is a doggo" post on /r/copypasta.

Is Doggo still popular?

Doggo peaked in the mid-to-late 2010s, with Merriam-Webster tracking it in December 2017, and is now a classic piece of internet dog vocabulary rather than a fresh trend.

Doggo

2014catchphraseclassic

Published August 17, 2026

Doggo is affectionate internet slang for a dog, popularized in the mid-2010s alongside related baby-talk terms like pupper and floof. The word spread through Reddit dog communities, image-macro charts, and Twitter pet accounts before Merriam-Webster added it to its Words We're Watching list in December 2017.

doggolingo memes dogs internet slang origin memes slang memes captioned animal memes

Overview

Doggo is affectionate internet slang for a dog, part of a wider vocabulary of dog-themed baby talk that pairs the word with "pupper" for a small dog2. The term shows up in image captions, tweets, and comment threads under photos of family pets.

The meme version travels with a specific chart-format joke that labels different animals with invented dog categories, such as a Shiba Inu treated as a "common doggo" and a fox as a "special doggo"4. By late 2017, Merriam-Webster noted the word's spike in usage and added it to a shortlist of terms it was tracking1.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Facebook / Reddit (viral spread)

Date

2014

Merriam-Webster traces "lie doggo" back to the late 19th century, where it meant to stay motionless and quiet to avoid detection, a sense unrelated to the modern dog-slang usage1. The affectionate meme meaning developed independently online.

The Facebook page "Ding de la Doggo" launched on May 22nd, 2014, sharing dog-related image macros and gathering more than 29,000 likes within three years4. A dedicated /r/doggos subreddit followed on June 6th, 20153.

How It Spread

On July 21st, 2015, an image titled "What are aninmals?" appeared on /r/meirl, using a Shiba Inu as a "common doggo" and a Fennec fox as a "special doggo," picking up more than 2,400 votes and 70 comments4. A narrated version of the "aninmals" chart was uploaded to YouTube by LilCosco08 on December 30th of that year5.

The vocabulary broke wider in 2016. Urban Dictionary user VictorLictor filed an entry on June 22nd defining doggo as "a big ol pupper"2. On July 16th, a "barber, you don't understand meme formats" image with a blue "Doggo" button drew over 8,400 votes on /r/me_irl4. Five days later, /r/copypasta user TurtlesOfJustice posted the "pupper is a doggo" copypasta that codified the shared vocabulary6.

Merriam-Webster added doggo to its "Words We're Watching" list on December 27th, 2017, crediting the We Rate Dogs Twitter account for the spike in slang usage1.

How to Use This Meme

To use doggo slang, people typically pair the word with related dog-baby-talk terms like "pupper" for a small dog or "floof" for a fluffy one, often in captions under pet photos2. A common convention is the "what are aninmals?" chart format, where real animals are sorted into invented dog categories such as "common doggo" or "special doggo"4.