Images of Famous Dogs

NAME: Cerberus (Also Kerberos)

A monstrous multi-headed dog of Greek mythology, often called the "hound of Hades", it guards the gates of the underworld preventing the dead from leaving. (More about Cerberus.)

BREED: Unknown

YEARS: Dog: ancient.

NAME: Argos

Odysseus' faithful dog in the Greek epic poem Odyssey by Homer. (More about Argos.)

BREED: Unknown

YEARS: Dog: 8th century BC.

NAME: Peritas

Favorite dog of Alexander the Great who accompanied him during his military exploits. (More about Peritas.)

BREED: Unknown

YEARS: Dog: 4th century BC.

NAME: Barry

The mountain rescue dog who saved 40 lives at the Great St. Bernard Pass. (More about Barry.)

BREED: St. Bernard

YEARS: Dog: 1800-1814.

NAME: Gelert

The dog of legend associated with the village of Beddgelert in Wales made famous in a poem by William Robert Spencer. (More about Gelert. Image shown is a painting by Richard Ansdell.)

BREED: Irish Wolfhound

YEARS: Poem: 1800.

Dog: 13th Century.

NAME: Seaman (Also known as Dog of Discovery)

The dog that accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition across America at the beginning of the 19th century. (Picture by Anne Mainman.)

BREED: Newfoundland

YEARS: Dog: perhaps 1804-1806.

NAME: Fido

Pet dog of President Abraham Lincoln. The dog was assasinated by a drunk shortly after the death of Lincoln. The president also had a dog named Jip. (More about Fido)

BREED: Unknown

YEARS: Dog: 1855-1864.

NAME: Huddersfield Ben

The first Yorkshire Terrier who won many prizes as a show dog and in ratting contests. (More about Hudderfield Ben.)

BREED: Yorkshire Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1865-1871.

NAME: Bobby

The loyal dog of John Gray, also known as Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who became famous in 19th-century Edinburgh for supposedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself. (See Greyfriars Bobby.)

BREED: Skye Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1855-1872.

NAME: Sensation

Representative dog image for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. A dog named Don which had won bench championships in England in 1875 and 1876, became the symbolic image for the Kennel Club because of the 1935 steel engraving of “Sensation” by artist J. Wellstood. From 1980-1982, a head study of the dog gained popularity. (More about Sensation.)

BREED: Pointer

YEARS: Dog: 1870s.

In Kennel catalog: 1936- now.

NAME: Bob the Railway Dog

A dog in the folklore of South Australian Railways in the later part of the 19th century and was known widely to railwaymen of the day. (More about Bob.)

BREED: Collie

mix

YEARS: Dog: 1881-1895.

NAME: Nipper

In advertisements for The Gramophone Company, then RCA. (More about Nipper.)

BREED: Terrier

mix

YEARS: Dog: 1884-1895.

Ads: early 1900-1977.

NAME: Owney

In advertisements for the U.S. Postal Office. (More about Owney.)

BREED: Mixed breed terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1888-1897.

NAME: Dash

Pet of President Benjamin Harrison; the president had a fancy dog house built next to the White House for Dash.

BREED: Collie

mixed breed

YEARS: Dog: 1889-1893.

NAME: Horand von Grafrath

The first German Shepherd; developed in Germany by "Captain" Max von Stephanitz. (More about Horand von Grafrath.)

BREED: German Shepherd

YEARS: Dog: 1895-1899.

NAME: Phiz (aka St. Thomas)

Pet of Helen Keller, a blind and deaf American author, political activist, and lecturer (June 27, 1880-June 1, 1968.) Later in life Miss Keller had a French Bull Terrier named Kaiser and an Akita named Kenzan-go, the first in the United States.

BREED: Boston Terrier

(some say it was a Pit Bull)

YEARS: Dog: 1900-1904.

NAME: Lad

The author's dog in the movie Lad: A Dog; starring Peter Breck; based on a series of short stories by Albert Terhune about his real-life Rough Collie.

BREED: Rough Collie

YEARS: Dog: 1902-1918.

Book: 1919.

Movie: 1962.

NAME: Blair

Director Cecil Hepworth'sfirst dog movie star and who played Rover in the movie Rescued by Rover.

BREED: Collie

YEARS: Dog: 1904-? Movie: 1905.

NAME: Jean (The Vitagraph Dog)

Dog actor known as the Vitagraph Dog that performed title roles in early silent films. The Vitagraph Studios was the most prolific American film production company in 1907.

BREED: Border Collie

YEARS: Dog: 1905-1916.

NAME: Pete

Pet dog of President Theodore Roosevelt who ripped off the French ambassador’s pants. Also the president had a Chesapeake Retriever named Sailor Boy, a Manchester Terrier Black Jack (Jack), a mongrel Skip, and a Pekingese Manchu.

BREED: Bull Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1907.

NAME: Caruso

Pet of President Howard Taft, reportedly a small, white dog who was gifted to Helen by famed opera singer Enrico Caruso.

BREED: Mixed breed

YEARS: Dog: 1909-1913.

NAME: Togo

The lead dog in the famous 1925 Serum Run to Nome, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy." (More about Togo.)

BREED: Siberian Husky

YEARS: Dog: 1913-1929.

Famed run:1925.

NAME: Chinook

An historic dog, first of the sled dog breed of that name derived from Husky and Mastiff and developed by Arthur Treadwell Walden. He led Byrd's 1929 Antarctic Expedition. The dog breed is also the official state dog of New Hampshire.

BREED: Chinook

YEARS: Dog: 1917-1929.

NAME: Strongheart (Born as Etzel von Oeringen)

Dog actor in the movies such as White Fang in 1925. (More about Strongheart.)

BREED: German Shepherd

YEARS: Dog: 1917-1929.

Movies: 1921-1927.

NAME: Stubby

Robert Conroy's companion in the animated movie Sgt._Stubby:_An_American_Hero; about a stray dog who becomes a hero of the World War I; based on the real life of a dog named Stubby, the 1st dog promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the US Army and most decorated in American history. (More about Stubby.)

BREED: Bull Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1917-1926.

Movie: 2018.

NAME: Bruce

Pet of President Woodrow Wilson. The president also had an Airedale Davie and Geyhound Mountain Boy.

BREED: Bull Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1918.

NAME: Rags

Dog serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I who became the mascot of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division

BREED: Mixed terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1916-1936.

NAME: Rin Tin Tin

A frightened pup found by an American soldier in France during World War I and ended up in Los Angeles where he starred in silent films and became a famous dog actor. He was named for a French child's toy. (More about Rin Tin Tin.)

BREED: German Shepherd

YEARS: Dog: 1918-1932.

NAME: Balto

The dog who led a team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome. A statue of Balto sculpted by Frederick Roth was erected in NYC's Central Park on Dec. 17 1925. (More about Balto.)

BREED: Siberian Husky

YEARS: Dog: 1919-1933.

NAME: Brownie (The Wonder Dog)

Film star dog in silent films such as Brownie's Little Venus. His fame was linked to child star Baby Peggy.

BREED: Mixed breed

YEARS: Dog: 1919-1924.

NAME: Laddie Boy

Pet of President Warren G. Harding. (More about Laddie Boy). Also in the White House was a Bulldog Old Boy

BREED: Airedale Terrier

YEARS: Dog: 1920-1929.

NAME: Cameo

Appearing in many early films, she was a dog actor in such films as Penrod and Sam; born as Camisole.

BREED: Unknown

YEARS: Dog: probaby 1922-1934.

NAME: Bobbie The Wonder Dog

The dog famous for traveling 2800 milesfrom Indiana to Oreon to return to his owners. (More about Bobbie.)

BREED: Scotch Collie

#NAME?

YEARS: Dog: 1921-1927.

Ordeal: 1923.

NAME: Hachiko (Also known as Hachi)

A Japanese dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner and in the children's book Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog; written by Pamela S. Turner; and in the movie (2009). (More about Hachiko.)

BREED: Akita

YEARS: Dog: 1923-1935.

Book: 2004.

Movies: 1987, 2009.

NAME: Rob Roy

Pet of President Calvin Coolidge. Also the President had Collie Prudence Prim, Wirehair Fox Terrier Peter Pan and 8 othere dogs.

BREED: Collie White

YEARS: Dog: 1923-1929.

NAME: Jim the Wonder Dog

A dog alleged to have a variety of remarkable abilities, among them, he seemed to have the ability to guess the sex of an unborn baby. A memorial park in his name is in Marshal, Missouri.

BREED: Llewellin Setter

YEARS: Dog: 1925-1937.

NAME: Jo-Fi

Pet of Sigmund Freud to whom he was greatly attached as the dog frequently stayed in his office during psychoanalytic sessions.

BREED: Chow Chow

YEARS: Dog: 1926-1937.

NAME: King Tut

Pet of President Herbert Hoover. While King Tut was Hoover's favorite dog, there were Fox Terriers Big Ben and Sonnie, Scotch Collie Glen), Malamut Yukon, Setter Eaglehurst Gillette, Irish Wolfhound Patrick, German Shepherd Pat, and Elkhound Weejie.

BREED: Belgian Shepherd

YEARS: Dog: 1929.

NAME: Bamse

The heroic mascot during World War II of the Free Norwegian Forces. (More about Bamse.)

BREED: St. Bernard

YEARS: Dog: 1937-1944.

NAME: Judy

Mascot of the Royal Navy in World War II, only dog to be taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese.... (More about Judy)

BREED: Pointer

YEARS: Dog: 1937-1950.

NAME: Just Nuisance

Only dog to be enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving at HMS Afrikander, a Royal Navy shore establishment in Simon's Town, South Africa where a statue honors him.

BREED: Great Dane

YEARS: Dog: 1937-1944.

NAME: Sinbad

The mascot of the U.S. Coast Guard and in the book written by George F. Foley Jr. Sinbad of the Coast Guard. (More about Sinbad.)

BREED: Mixed breed

YEARS: Dog: 1937-1951.

Book: 1945.

NAME: Ace the Wonder Dog

Dog actor in the movie The Adventures of Rusty and many others from 1938-1946 including the 1943 serial The Phantom. (More about Ace.)

BREED: German Shepherd

YEARS: Dog: 1937-1947.

Movies: 1938-1946.