“I had never thought of Marley as any kind of model, but sitting there sipping my beer, I was aware that maybe he held the secret for a good life. Never slow down, never look back, live each day with adolescent verve and spunk and curiosity and playfulness.”
― John Grogan, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
If you're reading this blog, it's pretty safe to say that you are probably a dog lover. When you read about a funny or heroic dog, see a hilarious or sweet dog movie, or even watch a dog cartoon with your kid, if you say, “aaawwwww”, or smile, or get out the kleenex....then this blog is for you. Today I'm going to chat about some famous dogs, mostly fictional, but all “aaawwww”-inspiring. Enjoy!
We'll start with some all-time classics. Toto from “The Wizard of Oz” might very well be the most famous dog ever. And why not? He was a loyal companion to Dorothy in, let's face it, a pretty darn scary situation! Evil, winged monkeys are no joke. Toto is one tough, loyal terrier, y'all. Fun fact: Toto's real name was Terry, but was renamed Toto after “The Wizard of Oz” film became popular.
Lassie is also a classic, famous for being very intelligent, and for the uncanny ability to find her way home (without asking for directions, definitely a female!). Lassie's character was first featured in a short story, then there was a novel, followed by a film, and finally a television series. In the short story, Lassie leads a search party to find 2 brothers that are injured in the snow. Sadly, one of the boys died before the search party returned, but the other one was saved. A collie named Pal played Lassie in the movie, and Pal's descendants played Lassie in the television show, and continue to this day to make Lassie appearances. Pretty cool family business!
A sure to be modern day classic is Marley from the novel and movie, “Marley and Me” Written by John Grogan, this doggy love tale is actually a true story. When John's wife gets baby fever, a friend suggests they get a dog to see if they are ready for babies: enter Marley, the yellow lab. Marley is adorable, sweet, and the world's best mischief-maker and chewer-of-all-the-things! He was literally expelled from obedience training. Although Marley makes life more challenging, he also inspires John's writing, and, as any pet does, becomes an integral part of the family, even as the Grogans have human children. If you watch the end without crying (no spoilers), you may have no soul! P.S. Having a dog is nothing like having babies. Just sayin'.
You can't talk about famous dogs without mentioning some of the ones that are animated. Quite frankly, they are some of my favorites. As a child, and even when my girls were little, Lady and the Tramp was a fan favorite. Tramp is the equivalent of the leather-jacket-wearing-motorcycle-riding-don't-bring-home-to-mama guy that we all love. Lady managed to turn him into the suit-wearing-white-collar-job-working-minivan-driving-dad that we all need. Definitely a fairy tale, but hey, it does give us girls some hope!
My all-time-hands-down-favorite-of-all-time dog is Scooby-Doo, and my daughters would be mad if I didn't mention Santa's Little Helper, who belongs to Homer Simpson and family. Scooby-Doo has it all: he's funny, he's loyal, he has an adorable way of talking (“ruh-roh Raggy!”), and although he's a scaredy-cat, he helps solve mysteries while riding around in a trippy-hippie-dippie Volkswagon bus. Plus, he'll do ANYTHING for a Scooby snack. I like a man who is easily manipulated! He gives Great Danes a good name. Santa's Little Helper gets extra points for having such an awesome name; however I'm gonna call him “SLH” so I don't get carpal tunnel while writing this blog. SLH is a greyhound, hence his svelte appearance. He was abandoned by his owner after coming in last in a race that Homer was betting on him winning. Homer and Bart decided to adopt him; truly a story of redemption. As with any dog, SLH wreaks occasional havoc with chewing furniture and newspapers and killing birds. However, he has also performed heroic acts AND has been the spokes-dog for Duff beer. Although short-lived, you KNOW that had to make Homer happy!
Every week, your Sunday comics feature the most illustrious Odie and Snoopy. Odie is often the bane of Garfield's existence, which just makes him hilarious. The funny thing is that Odie, despite his seeming lack of intelligence, is able to annoy Garfield with almost no “thoughts”. Just his happy-go-lucky vacant smile and tongue wagging is enough to irritate Garfield, especially in the morning. I can relate; perky and mornings do NOT mix! Makes you ponder how closely he compares to a real dog. Snoopy is perhaps the most iconic beagle of all time. Ironically, he's quieter than any beagle I've ever met! Snoopy will try to help Charlie Brown with his baseball pitching, and then laugh hysterically when Charlie falls over from the impact of the pitch. He's your typical fair weather friend, and we love him for it.
Finally, the psychology major in me can't go without mentioning Pavlov's dog. I've never before wondered about Pavlov's dog's actual name, and quite frankly, there were a number of dogs used in his experiments. Pavlov was a Russian psychologist famous for his work on classical conditioning. This is really a fancy way of saying he taught dogs to salivate on command. He would hit a buzzer, and give bits of dog food, and the dog would salivate. This is not a shock to any dog owner, because dogs are slaves to their bellies! After a while, the dog would salivate as soon as he heard the buzzer. While this might not sound like a big deal, it was quite a revolution in the world of psychology, influencing how people understand their own learning processes and behaviors. Not bad for some doggy drool!
Is anyone else feeling like relaxing with the funny papers or watching “The Wizard of Oz” on Netflix with their family? Yeah. Me, too.
― John Grogan, Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
If you're reading this blog, it's pretty safe to say that you are probably a dog lover. When you read about a funny or heroic dog, see a hilarious or sweet dog movie, or even watch a dog cartoon with your kid, if you say, “aaawwwww”, or smile, or get out the kleenex....then this blog is for you. Today I'm going to chat about some famous dogs, mostly fictional, but all “aaawwww”-inspiring. Enjoy!
We'll start with some all-time classics. Toto from “The Wizard of Oz” might very well be the most famous dog ever. And why not? He was a loyal companion to Dorothy in, let's face it, a pretty darn scary situation! Evil, winged monkeys are no joke. Toto is one tough, loyal terrier, y'all. Fun fact: Toto's real name was Terry, but was renamed Toto after “The Wizard of Oz” film became popular.
Lassie is also a classic, famous for being very intelligent, and for the uncanny ability to find her way home (without asking for directions, definitely a female!). Lassie's character was first featured in a short story, then there was a novel, followed by a film, and finally a television series. In the short story, Lassie leads a search party to find 2 brothers that are injured in the snow. Sadly, one of the boys died before the search party returned, but the other one was saved. A collie named Pal played Lassie in the movie, and Pal's descendants played Lassie in the television show, and continue to this day to make Lassie appearances. Pretty cool family business!
A sure to be modern day classic is Marley from the novel and movie, “Marley and Me” Written by John Grogan, this doggy love tale is actually a true story. When John's wife gets baby fever, a friend suggests they get a dog to see if they are ready for babies: enter Marley, the yellow lab. Marley is adorable, sweet, and the world's best mischief-maker and chewer-of-all-the-things! He was literally expelled from obedience training. Although Marley makes life more challenging, he also inspires John's writing, and, as any pet does, becomes an integral part of the family, even as the Grogans have human children. If you watch the end without crying (no spoilers), you may have no soul! P.S. Having a dog is nothing like having babies. Just sayin'.
You can't talk about famous dogs without mentioning some of the ones that are animated. Quite frankly, they are some of my favorites. As a child, and even when my girls were little, Lady and the Tramp was a fan favorite. Tramp is the equivalent of the leather-jacket-wearing-motorcycle-riding-don't-bring-home-to-mama guy that we all love. Lady managed to turn him into the suit-wearing-white-collar-job-working-minivan-driving-dad that we all need. Definitely a fairy tale, but hey, it does give us girls some hope!
My all-time-hands-down-favorite-of-all-time dog is Scooby-Doo, and my daughters would be mad if I didn't mention Santa's Little Helper, who belongs to Homer Simpson and family. Scooby-Doo has it all: he's funny, he's loyal, he has an adorable way of talking (“ruh-roh Raggy!”), and although he's a scaredy-cat, he helps solve mysteries while riding around in a trippy-hippie-dippie Volkswagon bus. Plus, he'll do ANYTHING for a Scooby snack. I like a man who is easily manipulated! He gives Great Danes a good name. Santa's Little Helper gets extra points for having such an awesome name; however I'm gonna call him “SLH” so I don't get carpal tunnel while writing this blog. SLH is a greyhound, hence his svelte appearance. He was abandoned by his owner after coming in last in a race that Homer was betting on him winning. Homer and Bart decided to adopt him; truly a story of redemption. As with any dog, SLH wreaks occasional havoc with chewing furniture and newspapers and killing birds. However, he has also performed heroic acts AND has been the spokes-dog for Duff beer. Although short-lived, you KNOW that had to make Homer happy!
Every week, your Sunday comics feature the most illustrious Odie and Snoopy. Odie is often the bane of Garfield's existence, which just makes him hilarious. The funny thing is that Odie, despite his seeming lack of intelligence, is able to annoy Garfield with almost no “thoughts”. Just his happy-go-lucky vacant smile and tongue wagging is enough to irritate Garfield, especially in the morning. I can relate; perky and mornings do NOT mix! Makes you ponder how closely he compares to a real dog. Snoopy is perhaps the most iconic beagle of all time. Ironically, he's quieter than any beagle I've ever met! Snoopy will try to help Charlie Brown with his baseball pitching, and then laugh hysterically when Charlie falls over from the impact of the pitch. He's your typical fair weather friend, and we love him for it.
Finally, the psychology major in me can't go without mentioning Pavlov's dog. I've never before wondered about Pavlov's dog's actual name, and quite frankly, there were a number of dogs used in his experiments. Pavlov was a Russian psychologist famous for his work on classical conditioning. This is really a fancy way of saying he taught dogs to salivate on command. He would hit a buzzer, and give bits of dog food, and the dog would salivate. This is not a shock to any dog owner, because dogs are slaves to their bellies! After a while, the dog would salivate as soon as he heard the buzzer. While this might not sound like a big deal, it was quite a revolution in the world of psychology, influencing how people understand their own learning processes and behaviors. Not bad for some doggy drool!
Is anyone else feeling like relaxing with the funny papers or watching “The Wizard of Oz” on Netflix with their family? Yeah. Me, too.
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