There is increasing interest in the ecology of dogs, the world’s most abundant carnivore (estimated 700 million–1 billion worldwide) ( Hughes and Macdonald, 2013 ; Silva-Rodríguez and Sieving, 2012 ; Vanak and Gompper, 2009a ; Gompper, Chapter 1 ). Like other large-bodied predators, dogs have important functional roles in structuring and maintaining ecological communities ( Letnic et al., 2012 ; Ritchie and Johnson, 2009 ; Vanak and Gompper, 2009a ), but they are also a regular source of con" ict with humans due to their negative effects on people and their enterprises, for instance through their roles in disease transmission and the killing of livestock and wildlife ( Baker et al., 2008 ; Hughes and Macdonald, 2013 ; King et al., 2012 ; Ritchie et al., 2012 ; Van Bommel and Johnson, 2012 ; Young et al., 2011 ). Indeed, some of the negative effects of maintaining dogs in the landscape have led to considerable recent debate about their management, most notably for dingoes, whose structuring role in Australian ecosystems may be comparable to that of wolves ( Canis lupus ) in North American settings ( Allen et al., 2011a ; Houston et al., 2010 b, 2013 ; Fleming et al., 2012 ; Letnic et al., 2011a ; Mech, 2012 ; Johnson and Ritchie, 2013). Despite their controversial effects, global ubiquity, and signi! cant ecological roles, dogs and their ecological impacts remain surprisingly poorly understood. In particular, we know little about how dogs in" uence other species across environmental gradients (from wild to urban) and how their in" uence varies between different ‘types’ of dogs (see Box 2.1). This lack of information is concerning, as in some parts of the world dogs, and in particular free-ranging dogs, have declined substantially due to direct human persecution and active management programs, whereas in other parts they have increased considerably, bene! ting from human food and shelter subsidies ( Gompper and Vanak, 2008 ; Ritchie et al., 2012 ; Vanak and Gompper, 2009b ). To better understand the consequences of changes in the distribution and abundance of dogs we require information on the roles dogs have in ecosystems, and how these vary both within and between types of dogs and different environmental contexts. Such information is also critical for scenarios where efforts are necessary to effectively manage or conserve freeranging dogs. With this in mind, we review what is known about the predation pressure that is exerted by dogs and how this may in" uence trophic patterns of communities. We have deliberately chosen not to focus extensively on the theory regarding predators (including dogs) and their effects, as this is covered in detail by other recent reviews ( Letnic et al., 2012 ; Prugh et al., 2009 ; Ritchie and Johnson, 2009 ; Ritchie et al., 2012 ; Vanak and Gompper, 2009a ); instead we present an overview of recent work concerning the ecological roles of dogs as predators.