It is a literal translation of the Chinese pejorative 走狗 (pinyin: zǒugǒu), meaning a yes-man or lackey, and is derived from the tendency of dogs to follow after humans in hopes of receiving food scraps.
[2] Historian Chang-tai Hung suggests the term was used to invoke negative mental imagery; "The image of ... a running dog parallels that of the United States as a wolf.
"[3] In 1950, an article in The China Weekly Review gave the definition "A running-dog is a lackey, one who aids and accompanies in the hope of being treated kindly and perhaps being allowed to share in the spoils.
[6] Lu's anger spilt over to the point of having a reaction even against those calling for resistance without vengeance "For the loudest of such people, he thought, were running dogs of the people-eaters, fed at least on scraps of human flesh.
[7]In 2021 China's consul general to Rio de Janeiro, Li Yang, insulted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a tweet: "Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the U.S."[8] The term is used as the name of a mission referencing its implied meaning in the 2004 action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.