A young dog, typically under one year old. The most common meaning.
子犬が庭で遊んでいる。
A puppy is playing in the garden.
I've been keeping a puppy since last year.
彼女は子犬を飼い始めた。
She started keeping a puppy.
small dog
A dog of small breed or size, not necessarily young. Less common than the 'puppy' sense.
あの子犬はもう大人だけど、とても小さい。
That small dog is already an adult, but it's very tiny.
先週、うちの犬に子犬が生まれた。
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.