(noun) a dog fancier. Cynophiles often participate in dog shows and dog sports. They may prefer owning purebred
dogs who have a pedigree, rather than adopting mongrels from shelters, but this is by no means always true. They may be annoyingly obsessive about their
dogs, spending exorbitant amounts of
money on them, or may simply consider dogs ideal companions.
My
friend is a real cynophile; he takes his
dog to compete in conformation shows, the
kind they show on Animal Planet.