Yeah that's the first numerator for animals I learned.

But legit, do the dogs have to be elongated to use 条?

What about snakes? Giraffes? Cats in summer?

In chinese, when describing quantities they always use units of measure even for discrete quantifiable things

For example:

"Two kg of sand" Is a natural english phrase with the struxture "Number - unit of measure - thing"

But in the phrase "ten people" there is no unit of measure, because people is a discrete quantifiable thing.

But in chinese you always gotta use an unit of measure. So to say ten people in chinese you say:

{十|ten} {个|unit} {人|person}

个 is a general use unit of measure. But for animals (I was told) the general unit of measure is 只

Now, 条 is a unit of measure for "long and thin things" like rivers, pants, and noodles.

But apparently also for dogs in this example phrase. So the title

Great article