Ich mag nicht Hund or Ich mag keine Hund. There is no article before *Hund _ (Un)fortunately you're forced to add some form of directive. (den, deinen, meinen, unseren, etc.) So you can form the following sentences: General statement - I don't like dogs - Ich mag keine Hunde General statement - I don't like (any) dog - Ich mag keinen Hund General statement - I don't want to have dogs - Ich mag/möchte keine Hunde haben. These are some examples of general statements without a direct subject. Direct statement - I don't like your (singular) dog - Ich mag deinen Hund nicht. Direct statement - I don't like your (plural - informal) dogs - Ich mag eure Hunde nicht. Direct statement - I don't like this dog - Ich mag diesen Hund nicht These are examples of direct statements that target a specific object. (your, mine, etc.) ___ To explain this a bit more precisely to you: 1.) The singular of dog is male. (der Hund) 2.) The plural of practically everything is female. (die Hunde, die Katzen, die Tiere, usw.) 3.) Should the negation come before the target, then it usually becomes a generalization. 4.) Should a directive be used, then the negation comes after the target. (Ich mag das nicht.) This should help you out a bit. Along the lines of - rule of thumb -