10 Famous Dogs of the 80s

For those of you dog lovers who grew up in the 80s, how many of these world-famous dogs do you remember? Of course, without them, some TV shows and movies just never would have made it. Some have their own books, toys and followers on social media. Others are even worth more than famous Hollywood stars today! But even if you don’t own a pet, surely you’ll have loved these characters. Here are the famous dogs of the 80s.

1. Einstein from Back to the Future

Einstein from Back to the Future, often referred to as Einie, was Dr. Emmett Brown’s sheepdog in 1985 and later became the pet of the Brown family. His age was unknown in the movie, but he was fully grown and considered “middle aged”. Named after the famous scientists, they thought it was appropriate that he became the first dog to travel through time.

While it seemed he wasn’t cared for during the movie since Doc used him for a number of experiments, he was his best friend. The famous dog “scientist” was played by two different dogs, Tiger in Part I and Freddie in Parts II and III.

2. Comet from Full House

Introduced in season 3 of Full House, Comet was the beautiful golden retriever born from a dog named Minnie. In the episode And They Call It Puppy Love, Minnie ran away from her home and found the Tanners’ backyard while pregnant. It wasn’t long before the family took her in where she gave birth to her litter on Jesse’s bed (that included Comet).

Her owner, Frank Flood, then came to retrieve her and allowed them to have one of the puppies as thanks for taking care of Minnie. Joey was able to persuade Danny and let little Michelle pick one, choosing Comet. He was then shown throughout the show until it ended, and died of cancer in 1998, although the little of puppies he sired starred in Fuller House.

Fun fact: The dog who played Comet was named Buddy, who also starred the major role in Air Bud in 1997.

3. Odie from Garfield

Odie was a wildly popular character throughout the Garfield comics and TV shows, including Garfield and Friends and The Garfield. He was also in live-action/computer-animated feature movies as well as three CGI films. Odie’s breed is a wire-haired dachsund/terrier mix with a large tongue that slobbers a ton.

They first made him on all fours, but after 1997, they put him on two field like Garfield. The name Odie also came from a car dealership commercial that was written by Jim Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot. He liked the name Odie and decided to change the original name of “Spot” to Odie when Garfield was first submitted.

Odie’s official birthday is August 8th, 1978 where he appeared in a comic strip who was original a pet to Lyman, Jon Arbuckle’s friend and roommate, but mysteriously disappeared after five years. So he became Jon’s pet.

4. Hooch from Turner and Hooch

Once you get past his bad habits and loyal protector personality, you’ve got to love Hooch from the 1989 buddy cop comedy with Tom Hanks and Beasley the Dog. Turner and Hooch goes as a bored police investigator, Scott Turner (Hanks), who is looking to transfer to a better position in Sacramento, leaving his investigator to replace him.

They also met with a long-time friend Amos Reed, but then were called in to investigate the discovery of $8000 left at the local beach. Later that day, Amos was murdered by a local seafood magnate, Walter Boyett, when Amos discovered his secretive operations.

Turner is then called to the crime which leads him to take in the homeless dog Hooch, which the two become inseparable through rough and emotional times.

5. Spuds MacKenzie from The Bud Light Commercials

Created in an advertising campaign in the late 1980s by Bud Light beer, Spuds MacKenzie was introduced by 23-year-old art director, Jon Moore. The dog first showed up in a Bud Light ad during the Super Bowl XXI in 1987. The dog breed is a bull terrier named Honey Tree Evil Eye who played a male character but was actually female.

The ad first had a lot of hate, saying Bud Light used Spuds to appeal to children for the purpose of introducing them to drinking at an early age. Then in 1989, both Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Center for Science in the Public Interest both allegedly claimed that Anheuser-Busch was marketing the dog to children, but it was never confirmed.

The company later decided to shut it down as the dog’s image was starting to overshadow the product.

6. Scrappy Doo from Scooby Doo

First introduced in 1979 as Scooby’s nephew, Scrappy had famous catchphrases like “Scrappy Dappy Doo,” “Lemme at ‘em!” and “Puppy Power!”. He appeared throughout various Scooby-Doo cartoon series, played by Lennie Weinrib in 1979 and Don Messick in 1980 (Don also played Schooby).

He was originally created to save the show’s ratings which had begun to drop and were threatened to be cancelled by ABC. Created by Joseph Barbera and developed by Mark Evanier, Scrappy’s character came from the Looney Tunes character Henery Hawk.

From the time Scrappy was introduced, the Scooby Doo shows focused less on the gang and more on Shaggy, Scrappy and Scooby.

7. Astro from The Jetsons

The Jetsons was originally famous from the 60s, but new episodes were introduced in 1985 – 1987 as part of the The Fantastic World of Hanna-Barbera block. It was her Space Age counterpart to The Flintstones. So Astro was the family dog, but prior to joining the family, his name was Tralfaz and he belonged to the rich Mr. J.P. Gottrockets.

He’s also one of George’s best friends, along with his work computer, R.U.D.I., and Elroy. Astro can speak, but it’s heavily accented with barks and growls, a style that would later be used by Don Messick in Scooby Doo. But sadly, the show was discontinued after 1989 due to the deaths of George O’Hanlon (George Jetson) and Mel Blanc (Mr. Spacely).

8. Otis from Milo and Otis

The Adventures of Milo and Otis is an adventure comedy-drama movies about an orange tabby cat, Milo, and a pug named Otis. The original movie was released by July 12, 1986, narrated by Shigeru Tsuyuki. The film was then released in English on August 25th, 1989 with the first 15 minutes removed, written by Mark Saltzman and narrated by Dudley Moore. The movies feature the pair and their adventures where they rely on their friendship to survive in the woods.

9. Brandon from Punky Brewster

Punky’s beloved dog Brandon was her only companion after her mom abandoned them at a shopping center in Chicago. While the American family sitcom wasn’t centered around Brandon, he did find love in the final episode with Brenda, who belonged to one of Henry and Punky’s neighbors. A great ending with a wedding ceremony, with the majority of the attendance consisting of the neighborhood dogs.

While the dog’s real name in Punky Brewster was Sandy, Brandon was named after Brandon Tartikoff, the NBC programming chief. He also named the entire series from a girl whom he had a crush on in his childhood – a tomboy named Peyton “Punky” Brewster.

10. Cujo from Cujo

Who could ever forget the once beloved St. Bernard from Cujo? At first, he’s as sweet as they come, playing and giving kisses to the boy who came to visit. But one bad bite from a rabies-infected rabbit and this dog was lethal. Breaking into the car and house, this monstrous dog was unstoppable.

Although ironically, the filmmakers had to use several St. Bernards to film Cujo, and they were all too friendly! They had to put whipped cream around the dogs’ mouths to look like saliva, use an actor in a dog costume and incorporate 80s special effects into the scenes to create a vicious, man-eating beast out of a sweet, gentle giant.

Are We Missing Any?

Please let us know if we’re missing any iconic dogs of the 80s and we’ll be sure to add it. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!