My. Merriam-Webster's thesaurus does list this as a synonym, and is seems more in character for Pup Ears to say rather than 'mongrel, cur, rotter, yellow dog, snake, toad...' in a situation like this, where your elder elegant brother tells you that you're the shame of the family,
and holds your mom - whom you thought died - up a huge demon orge with a resizeable palm.
To say his earlier word doesn't make him seem literate.
Another thing...they share the same father, but not mother! What past do these two share?
Why does Inuyasha have puppy ears? Ponder on that!