狗 pairs the beast radical 犭 (a sideways dog, ironically) with 句 for sound. An older character 犬 draws the whole dog; 狗 became the everyday word while 犬 retreated into formal compounds.
狗 is one of the twelve zodiac animals — loyal, honest, a little anxious. Traditional idioms were hard on dogs (狗急跳墙, 'a cornered dog leaps the wall'), but the internet rehabilitated them: 单身狗 ('single dog') is how young people joke about being unattached, and 累成狗 ('tired as a dog') is every worker's Friday. From guard duty to memes, 狗 tracks China's changing life.
Animal radical 犭 + 句 — the barking companion: DOG.
单身狗 'single dog' is affectionate internet self-mockery — on Singles' Day (11/11), the whole country jokes about it.