The dog, one of the animals frequently appearing in Chinese proverbs, is humanity’s first domesticated animal. It is friendly toward people and extremely loyal to its owner. The symbolic meaning of animals may differ depending on language and culture. Even if the vocabulary structure of the same language is used, the emotive meaning may differ depending on the lexical category. For example, when referring to people or things, “狗(dog)” as a Chinese word mainly portray a negative image, but “狗(dog)” and “犬(dog)” in Chinese proverbs contain both positive and negative connotations. In Chinese proverbs, positive semantic features of “狗/犬(dog)” include [+good], [+loyal], [+faithful], [+profit], [+luck], and [+wealth]. Its negative semantic features are [-high status], [-high dignity], [+cunning], [+vile], [-good], [+dirty], [+vulgar], [-spiritual], [-courageous], [+dull], and [-competent]. Among these, [+good] and [-good]’s semantic features can all be observed, which have different semantic features according to a dog’s characteristics. For example, a dog, considered a loyal animal to humans, is [+good]. However, its dirty and lowly behaviors, uncorrectable by nature, are compared to the behavior of an evil person, leading to a [-good] semantic feature. Additionally, “狗/犬 (dog)” in Chinese proverbs is considered an animal that brings good luck and wealth. This is influenced by the old Chinese superstition and contains cultural-specific [+luck] and [+wealth] semantic features.