In the early years, The Black Dog consisted of Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner. After the release of Spanners, Handley and Turner left to focus on their Plaid project. Ken Downie still releases music as The Black Dog.

Downie, Handley and Turner used various pseudonyms for their projects depending on who worked on them. The distinctions between the various pseudonyms may not be as clear cut as the following list suggests:

Ken Downie alone: Xeper, Discordian Popes, I.A.O.
Ed Handley alone: Close Up Over, Balil
Andy Turner alone: Atypic, Tura, Plaid (Andy alone for Bytes)
Turner + Handley: Plaid (on release other than Bytes)
Downie, Turner & Handley: The Black Dog

Black Dog Productions has been listed as the artist or remixer for individual tracks on several compilations.