Short answer
No. Touching a dog is not haram and does not break wudu. In the Hanafi school a dog's body is not impure in itself, but its saliva is, so if a dog licks you or your clothes, wash that spot. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools treat the whole dog as impure and require washing seven times, once with soil, after wet contact.
According to the relied-upon Hanafi position a dog is not impure in itself, and its saliva is impure. Touching a dry dog changes nothing. Wash any place its saliva touched, as with other impurity; a vessel it licks is washed three times, and seven is better.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The whole dog is heavily impure (najasa mughallaza). Wet contact with any part of it requires washing seven times, one of them with clean soil.
- Hanbali
- Like the Shafi'i school: the dog is wholly impure, and wet contact requires seven washings, one with soil.
- Maliki
- The dog is pure, including its saliva. Washing a vessel it licked seven times is an act of obedience, not a removal of impurity.
Explanation
No school says that touching a dog breaks wudu. Wudu is broken by things that leave the body, sleep and similar causes, not by touching animals (see how to make wudu). The real question is impurity.
The Prophet ﷺ said that a vessel a dog has licked is purified by washing it seven times. The Hanafi scholars understood that the saliva is impure, and they hold that three washings are the required minimum, with seven recommended. They also hold, in the relied-upon view, that the dog's body and fur are not impure in themselves.
For a Hanafi this means:
- Patting a dry dog or brushing past one leaves you and your clothes pure.
- A lick on your hand or clothes makes that spot impure. Wash it before you pray.
- A dog's food bowl or a cup it drank from must be washed three times, ideally seven.
- Airport sniffer dogs, a neighbour's dog, a friend's pet: no problem, as long as you wash any saliva.
If you follow the Shafi'i or Hanbali school, any wet contact needs the seven washings with soil. The Maliki school is the most lenient and treats the dog as pure. Whatever your school, being kind to dogs is good, and avoiding them out of fear of impurity is not required. On keeping a dog, see are Muslims allowed to have dogs.
The evidence
Sahih Muslim 279
Sahih... طهور إناء أحدكم إذا ولغ فيه الكلب أن يغسله سبع مرات ...
"The purification of your vessel when a dog licks it is to wash it seven times."
A dog's saliva is impure and must be washed off.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharah, section on leftover water (as'ar). The leftover water of a dog is impure, and a vessel it licks is washed three times.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, discussion of whether the dog is impure in itself. The relied-upon view is that the dog is not impure in itself.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on removing impurity. The Shafi'i position that the dog is wholly impure and requires seven washings with soil.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.