What is the dog?
The dog is the small pile set aside during the deal: six cards at three or four players, and three at five players. Its treatment depends on the contract.
Take and Guard
With Take or Guard, the taker turns up the dog, adds its cards to their hand, and then discards the same number of cards face down before play starts. The discard is not scored as a trick, but the cards are counted for the taker at the end. Rules restrict which cards may be discarded; in particular, Kings and oudlers should not be casually thrown away, and trumps must be handled according to the official rules.
Guard Without the Dog
The taker does not look at the dog. It remains face down and counts for the taker at the end of the hand, including any oudlers inside it.
Guard Against the Dog
The dog is assigned to the defence rather than to the taker. That gives the defence its card points without needing to win those cards in tricks.
Discarding sensibly
In ordinary Take or Guard, consider keeping your trumps, oudlers and protected honours. Shortening a suit can create opportunities to trump later, but a discard that weakens your high-card control can be costly. The right discard depends on the full hand and what the dog contains.