I've been keeping a puppy since last year.
A puppy is playing in the garden.
She started keeping a puppy.
small dog
A dog of small breed or size, not necessarily young. Less common than the 'puppy' sense.
That small dog is already an adult, but it's very tiny.
Last week, our dog had puppies.
I found an abandoned puppy in the park.
She ran up to me like an excited puppy.
犬 is the general word for 'dog' of any age or size, while 子犬 specifically means a young puppy (or a small dog).
子猫 means a baby cat and 子犬 means a baby dog, so the two are easily mixed up because of their identical 子〜 structure.
子犬 specifically means a puppy, whereas 犬 refers to a dog of any age.
counter for small animals · counter for rolls of cloth · archaic counter for horses · roll of cloth
puppy mill; puppy farm
Standard and most common spelling.
Alternative kanji spelling; 仔 specifically means 'young animal'.
Less common spelling; 小 means 'small'.
Search-only form; not a standard written spelling.
Compound of 子 (こ, 'child') + 犬 (いぬ, 'dog'). The reading こいぬ is a straightforward combination of the kun'yomi readings of the two kanji.