Their earlier recordings show influence of the lo-fi sound and pop sensibilities of indie rock bands of the 1990s, such as Sonic Youth, Guided by Voices and Pavement,[3] although recent albums have featured more polished production.

The origins of Dr. Dog trace back to Toby Mark Leaman and Scott Anthony McMicken first playing music together in eighth grade.

[4] The band began as an offshoot of Leaman's and McMicken's earlier music project, during college at West Chester University, PA, called Raccoon.

[3] Dr. Dog formed with the addition of keyboardist Zachery Ulrich Miller, drummer Ted Mark, and guitarist Douglas O'Donnell also while attending West Chester.

Starting in 2002, Leaman, McMicken, and O'Donnell regularly played bluegrass with friends at the London Grill in the Fairmount Section of Philadelphia under the pseudonym "Conowingo Homeboys".

They signed with Park The Van Records, who released the album Easy Beat, and completed their first cross-country tour in 2005.

The band continued to tour heavily as their popularity grew, due in part to their use of the internet to promote their growing catalog.By 2006, Dr. Dog started using a new studio as well as new recording equipment.

Through the late summer of 2007, Dr. Dog streamed ten unreleased tracks on their website,[11] with a new song debuting weekly.

Scott McMicken characterized the album as more modern, and a little more punk rock, more prominently featuring electric guitars, so as to accurately reflect the band's live show.

They released a new 7" on a variety of colors for the November 2011 Record Store Day including the tracks "Warrior Man" and "Control Yourself" which would appear on Be The Void.

They performed the song "That Old Black Hole" on Conan, February 8[17] and "Lonesome" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, on March 23.

[19] On September 27, 2012, Dr. Dog announced on their Facebook page that their new EP, Wild Race, would be released digitally on October 2.

[21] To record the album the band built an all-new studio in February 2013 in Clifton Heights, PA nicknamed "Mount Slippery.

[25] In September 2015, Leaman revealed that the band has revisited 2001's Psychedelic Swamp, and the album would finally get an official release in 2016.

The album was made available to stream for free and all proceeds received through January 31, 2017, would benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[28] The album was released on the band's new label We Buy Gold Records as they previously ended their relationship with ANTI- over the priorities of Abandoned Mansion against Psychedelic Swamp.

[33] In October 2019 the band announced a 15-city winter 2020 tour which concluded in late February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States disrupted the live music business.

[37] In their email newsletter announcement they shared that each individual member of the band is pursuing solo work but they planned to record new music together as Dr. Dog in 2023.