You would be forgiven for thinking there’s only one dog on The Simpsons but as we’ve delved back through their decades of shows we’ve found 7 of, we think, the best dogs who’ve ever appeared on the show.
1. Santa’s Little Helper
Also known as No. 8 or Suds McDuff of America, Santa’s Little Helper was bought as a Christmas gift – something Homer I’m sure wouldn’t recommend himself.
Santa’s Little Helper is 5 years old, thirty years after first appearing on the show. In his time on the show he has lived a full life from fathering a litter of puppies, to replacing Duffman as the mascot for Duff Bear, to being trained as a police dog and rescuing Bart in the process, to passing obedience school.
2. Bongo/Hendrix
Bongo was Homer’s dog as a child, he knew how to stop him crying and was essentially his best friend. Homer even gave him his own song, see the clip below for a snippet.
Bongo was rehomed for safety after he bit Mr Burns, at which point he was renamed Hendrix to keep his true identity a secret.
3. Laddie
Brought in after Bart ordered him from a catalogue using a forged credit card, Laddie proved himself a helpful sort of a dog performing household chores including flushing the toilet – a valuable habit for sure. When Bart was unable to pay his credit card bill the repo men turned up to claim and he gave them Santa’s Little Helper pretending he was Laddie.
4. The Hounds
Think of the phrase ‘The Hounds’ and this video below is guaranteed to spring to mind. Owned by Mr Burns ‘The Hounds’ they are often released to scare off unwanted company. True fact – in the episode titled ‘Dog of Death’ Santa’s Little Helper appeared as one of the hounds.
5. Poochie
Poochie was a character on The Itchy & Scratchy Show brought in by the network executives who felt the show needed an update to keep it’s audience interest (could this be a storyline brought about because of real life network executives we wonder?).
Poochie’s time on the show was short lived when viewers of The Itchy & Scratchy Show wrote in wanting the character removed. Homer, who was the voice of Poochie, was devastated.
6. Wiggle Puppy
An imaginary friend of Ralph Wiggum, Wiggle Puppy goes on adventures every day with him and can fly by wagging his tail. Apparently.
7. Smiley
Adopted by Lisa Simpson on a crusade to save as many animals as she could, Smiley along with others rescued lived in the Simpsons family home attic. After they were discovered by Bart a tiger mistakenly bit his arm meaning all of the animals had to be taken away. Chief Wiggum told Lisa she had to find new homes for all of the animals otherwise their fate would await them at a pound.
Did we include your favourite dog from The Simpsons? Let us know if not – we’d love to hear from you!