Klingon monster dog
Klingon monster dogs were a type of lizard-dog kept as pets by Klingons.

Commander Kruge kept a ferocious monster dog as a pet aboard his Bird-of-Prey. ()



Appendices

See also 
Targ
Jackal mastiff

Background information 
The term "monster dog" is not the "official name" of this animal; however, it is consistently used by Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston during an interview in the  DVD, which discusses the creation of the puppet.

In the script, the "monster dog" was referred to as "the Beast" and was described as "a half timber wolf, half lizard."

 spoke fondly of this creature, remarking, "It seemed to embody the best attributes of a German shepherd and an alligator." However, A.C. Crispin was much less enthusiastic about the animal, commenting, "Will somebody please tell me what the Commander's pooch actually ate? Kruge's alligator-dog seemed to me gratuitous, something that ILM toted in as an afterthought, possibly a mechanical marvel left over from the critters fashioned for 's entourage [in the Star Wars film ]. 'Hutt's Best Friend,' so to speak." (, issue 88, pp. 35 & 36)

In the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park's Star Trek Adventure experience, a child participant would be selected to play a similar Klingon pet in each presentation. In the closing credits of the edited "episode," this juvenile creature was called a "puppy lizard."

Apocrypha 
In the Star Trek III: Starship Combat Game, the creature was a jadashha.

The Klingon name of this animal may also possibly be qovIj, a term introduced and approved by Marc Okrand at the 2019  convention. It is defined as "This is a canine-like (dog-like) creature, smaller than a ngavyaw'. It is a smaller animal, similar to Kruge's pet." The term "similar" leaves it open if Kruge's pet is an example of a qovIj on screen or if it is only "alike".

Qo'noS
Canines
Memory Alpha articles named from supplementary resources