How to use the RandomDog API in Ruby

Random pictures of dogs. A free animals API by random.dog. This guide calls it from Ruby with code we've run against the live endpoint.

Online · 1405 msEndpoint tested Oct 24, 2026

1. What you need

Ruby 2.7 or newer. net/http and json are in the standard library.

No API key or sign-up. Endpoint: https://random.dog/woof.json

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "json"

data = JSON.parse(Net::HTTP.get(URI("https://random.dog/woof.json")))
puts data

Trimmed from the live response on Oct 24, 2026.

JSON

{
  "fileSizeBytes": 2159717,
  "url": "https://random.dog/8590d98b-5839-4ec7-9065-e3aa0c2d0763.mp4"
}

Set a timeout and handle non-200 responses: free APIs can rate-limit or go down.
Cache responses where you can, instead of calling the API on every page view.
Read the official documentation ↗ for rate limits and terms of use.

No. The RandomDog API works without an API key, so the Ruby example runs as-is.

Yes. It sends CORS headers, so front-end JavaScript can call it directly.

JSON. The example response on this page is trimmed from a real response our health check received on Oct 24, 2026.