Some dogs have managed to do something most people never do, and that’s becoming so famous that their names are still important decades later.
A passenger with no return ticket
Nobody could’ve expected how famous Laika the dog would actually become. She was a stray from the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose her to go into space aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957, and that made her the first animal to orbit Earth.
But there was no plan to bring her back. Officials told people that Laika had managed to survive for several days, yet the truth was that she likely died within hours after the capsule overheated. She might’ve only been a dog, but she taught scientists that space travel was possible.
The final run into Nome
One of the main reasons Balto the dog became famous was because he saved lives. People in Nome, Alaska, were dealing with a diphtheria outbreak in early 1925, and they desperately needed medicine. But it seemed like there was no way to deliver it to them in time.
Enter Balto. He led the final relay of a dog team that managed to carry the medicine across hundreds of miles of frozen territory. Gunnar Kaasen was the human in charge of the group. They managed to get the medicine to the people who needed it and saved their lives. Balto received his own statue in Central Park.
Hollywood found its four-legged star
Most people didn’t even have televisions yet, but Rin Tin Tin was already doing action movies. The German Shepherd was found by an American soldier named Lee Duncan in France during World War I. Duncan brought him home to the United States, and Hollywood took over from there.Â
Rin Tin Tin appeared in numerous Warner Bros. films during the 1920s. He actually went on to become one of the studio’s biggest animal stars. Whether it was rescues or chases, even fights, Rin Tin Tin was capable of practically everything. He died in 1932 after appearing in 27 films.
Before Lassie became an institution
Most people don’t realize that the original screen Lassie was actually a male Rough Collie named Pal. Trainer Rudd Weatherwax worked with Pal, and MGM eventually cast him in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home.Â
The movie also starred Roddy McDowall and a young Elizabeth Taylor. But really, Pal outshone them all. It’s thanks to Pal that we have the version of Lassie known around the world. The character might’ve been played by different canines over the years, but it was Pal who started it.
Dorothy’s companion had another name
You probably recognize Terry the dog as playing Toto in MGM’s 1939 The Wizard of Oz. But it turns out, she’d already worked in movies before she followed Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road. Yes, she’d appeared in Bright Eyes and Ready for Love.Â
Filming for Oz didn’t exactly go down easily, though. One of the Winkie guard actors accidentally stepped on her and sprained her ankle. It forced Terry to miss some shooting. She did eventually recover and come back, going on to appear in around a dozen films. Terry eventually retired in 1942.
From Yale to the battlefields
Not all dogs are famous for their work on the silver screen. Just look at Stubby, for example, a dog that entered military history after helping soldiers at Yale during training in 1917. Stubby later went to France with the 102nd Infantry and served with the 26th Yankee Division during World War I.Â
The canine was around for 17 battles, if you can believe that. He even helped stop a German soldier who was trying to escape during one incident, and went on to meet U.S. presidents after the war. Stubby became Georgetown University’s mascot. Not bad for something with four legs.
One sideways glance went everywhere
Kabosu is one of the most recognizable faces on the internet. But you probably wouldn’t have guessed that from what was happening at the time, as her owner, Atsuko Sato, was just taking pictures of her. Sato snapped a picture of Kabosu with crossed paws and a wonderfully suspicious sideways expression.Â
It didn’t take long for the internet to run with it. Yes, Kabosu is the dog behind the ‘Doge’ meme, and Dogecoin went on to use the dog’s likeness in 2013. Kabosu died in May 2024 at the ripe old age of 18.
The basketball trick was real
It’s easy to think that the dog’s basketball tricks in Air Bud were just computer trickery. They weren’t. No, Buddy, a Golden Retriever, could genuinely push a ball toward a hoop with his nose, and he became very skilled with it. He actually made more than 22,000 baskets.
Buddy also appeared twice on David Letterman’s ‘Stupid Pet Tricks’ and performed in commercials as well. He was a popular feature in sports halftime shows before he starred in Air Bud. The movie was ridiculous in some parts, yes, but the dog really could shoot baskets. How incredible.
Six months later, he came home
One of the famous dogs was actually a pup that disappeared. But don’t worry, the tale has a happy ending. The dog’s name was Bobbie, and he vanished in Indiana in August 1923 while his family was on a road trip. They searched and couldn’t find him. They eventually drove home to Oregon without him, feeling completely heartbroken.
Then Bobbie showed up at their house in Silverton, Oregon, almost six months later. He was thin and had badly worn feet. He’d somehow made it 2,800 miles back home, and his story spread across the country, making him a star. Over 40,000 people came to see him at the Portland Home Show, and Bobbie also appeared as himself in a silent movie.
A new resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
The Obama family didn’t enter the White House with a dog. They left with two, though. Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife gave a dog to President Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, in April 2009. They soon fell in love with him.
Bo appeared in the Oval Office and the South Lawn, as well as in holiday photos and press events. He got the unofficial title of ‘First Dog’ because of how popular he was, and the Obamas adopted another dog, Sunny, soon after. Bo passed away from cancer in 2021 at the age of 12.
Cannes had an award for him
Time for another movie star canine. Uggie the Jack Russell Terrier played Jack in 2011’s The Artist, and he soon managed to become the star of the show. He didn’t even need to say, or bark, a word because it was a silent film.
Cannes gave Uggie the Palm Dog that year, and he continued making appearances during awards season. He pressed his paws into the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in L.A., so his pawprints will stay there forever.
The Labrador behind the bestseller
Marley and Me is easily one of the most famous films about a dog, and there was actually some truth behind it. Writer John Grogan lived with the yellow Labrador from 1991 until 2003. There was never a dull moment because Marley chewed things and damaged doors.
Marley passed away, and Grogan wrote about him in a Philadelphia Inquirer column. These memories later became the bestselling book Marley & Me in 2005, and the movie of the same name in 2008. Marley clearly supplied a lot of material.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
