Feline morbillivirus‐1 (FeMV‐1) is a viral pathogen associated with kidney disease in domestic cats and wild felids. We initially identified the FeMV‐1 from the lung of a necropsied dog with severe pulmonary disease by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Thereafter, we investigated FeMV‐1 in nasal and oral swab samples from 73 healthy and 113 dogs with respiratory illnesses. We found polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐positive FeMV‐1 from only 14/113 (12.39%) dogs with respiratory disease (p = .001). Of these 14 dogs, six were co‐infected with other canine respiratory viruses (6/14; 42.86%). Two independent immunohistochemistry procedures, using antibodies against matrix and phosphoprotein of FeMV‐1, confirmed the presence of FeMV‐1 in lung tissues of two necropsied dogs (out of a total of 22 dogs, 9.09%) that died from respiratory disease. This finding corresponded to transmission electron microscopy findings that paramyxoviral particles exist in lung epithelia. FeMV‐1 antigen localization was also evident in the kidney, lymphoid and brain tissues of two deceased dogs. FeMV‐1 was successfully isolated from a necropsied dog and from two living dogs, all with respiratory illnesses, which supports FeMV infection in dogs. The detection of FeMV‐1 in dog tissues expands the known tropism of this virus to a non‐felid host. Our findings indicate that FeMV‐1, alone or in co‐infection with other viral pathogens, might contribute to respiratory illness and death in dogs.