Best Movie Dogs of All Time

Few dogs could pull off this much pink, but Bruiser Woods makes it work. Played by a rescue Chihuahua named Moonie, who was taken in as a puppy by a trainer with Studio Animal Services, Bruiser is Elle Woods’ constant companion. Whether she’s mourning her idiot ex-boyfriend or studying for an exam on torts and contracts, he’s always right by her side, offering emotional support. Moonie reprised the role for the 2009 sequel, Legally Blond 2: Red, White, and Blonde, which saw Reese Witherspoon’s Elle fighting for animal rights in Washington, D.C. The audience gets to meet Bruiser’s mom (played by the Taco Bell Chihuahua, who’d been trained by Moonie’s owner as well), and learns he’s gay after he’s caught fornicating with a congressman’s male Rottweiler at a doggie day spa. Now that’s a character arc. —Alison Weinflash

The world’s first-time traveler wasn’t Marty McFly but Einstein, beloved pet sheepdog of Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd), who hopped into his owner’s DeLorean to journey one minute into the future. After returning from his time travel, the exhausted pup goes to rest in Doc’s truck — but still manages to warn him about the terrorists coming after him, solidifying Einstein’s place in the pantheon of movie good boys. A dog named Tiger (shown) played Einstein in the trilogy’s first film, but was too old to reprise his role in the sequels, so a game sheepdog named Freddie stepped up. —A.W.

Loyalty is the heart of the human-dog connection, and there may be no dog more devoted to its human than the pit bull John Wick frees from an animal shelter he breaks into to treat his injuries (read: staple himself together) from a fight. Eye contact with the gorgeous gray pittie is all it takes for our hero, still grieving from the cruel murder of the puppy his dying wife had bought him, to release it. And thus, the pup — known only as “Dog” or “Boy” (despite reportedly being played by a female dog) — became his sole, faithful companion and Continental regular through the remainder of the franchise. —Maria Fontoura

“God loves a terrier,” Cookie and Gerry Fleck (Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy) sing in Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary. The song is a tribute to their adorable Norwich named Winky (played by a real show dog with the very real show dog name of Can. Ch. Urchin’s Bryllo), who radiates a calm confidence in the ring — even when Cookie injures herself, and Gerry and his literal two left feet have to take over as his handler for the final competition. The judges of the Mayflower Kennel Club are rightly dazzled by the little dog’s professionalism, and when Winky is crowned Best in Show, he looks as if he never doubted it for a second. As the song says, “God didn’t miss a stitch/be it dog or be it bitch/when he made the Norwich merrier/with his cute little ‘derrier.’” —Lisa Tozzi

Good behavior and training are key, but there’s nothing more important than an expressive face when it comes to dog actors. And Bing, the 150-lb. Great Dane this movie revolves around, is basically Charlie Chaplin in dog form. As a pet named Apollo whose owner has died by suicide, he conveys a sadness many human actors have failed to achieve, not to mention that he’s in nearly every frame of the movie’s 123-minute runtime. As the film’s directors told Rolling Stone, Bing handled it all like a pro: “He’s the most nonchalant actor we’ve ever worked with,” said David Siegel. “He’s truly magnetic.” —M.F.

Yes, children, it was perfectly acceptable at the end of the 1980s to pitch studio executives a buddy-cop comedy starring Tom Hanks and a dog. But it’s hard to this hate something like this when you have a drooling French Mastiff named Beasley playing the the ultimate good-buddy and proving to be a great scene partner for the future Oscar winner. Beasley even gets an epic entrance to the strains of “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” slo-mo sprinting toward Hanks and knocking him over. —David Fear

Ron Burgundy may have many compadres, but San Diego’s premier broadcast newscaster has only one true confidante: an apparently bilingual border terrier named Baxter who can survive bridge falls and a bear attack. He’s the kind of man’s-best-friend who could both call Burgundy out on his self-delusional shit (“You know how to cut to the core of me, Baxter!”) and cuddle up next to him in matching corrective headgear. —D.F.

Sure, France’s Jean Dujardin was the one who went home with a Best Actor Oscar for playing a silent movie star in a mostly silent movie — but the real breakout of this Best Picture winner was Uggie, the adorable Jack Russell Terrier (whose character name was, naturally, Jack) that stuck by his master through thick and thin. There was even a “Consider Uggie” awards campaign that several folks tried to get off the ground. The little guy had to settle for the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Palm Dog Award. —D.F.

The canine-cinema O.G. Rin Tin Tin may not have been the first screen pooch to become popular thanks to the moving pictures (big up Rinty’s fellow German Shepard, Strongheart) but the “Famous Police Hero Dog” virtually defined the dog-saves-man genre for an entire generation of moviegoers. He was one of the 1920s’ biggest above-the-title stars, as well as the furriest, and anyone wanting to dive into his impressive filmography should go straight to this 1923 drama, in which R.T.T. bonds with a fur trapper in the Canadian wilderness. —D.F.

“He has a look, and a soul [onscreen],” director Justine Triet has said about Messi, the French Border Collie who nearly stole the 2023 Oscar-nominated courtroom drama from his human co-stars. “I think that’s why people have been treating him like a real actor.” It’s easy to see why: When his character, Snoop, is fed aspirin in order to prove someone’s innocence, the dog is panting, wheezing, and appears to be near death. The fact that Messi plays the scene so convincingly both astounded audiences and had them applauding. (Should you wonder how Messi was able to pull it off, check this out.) —D.F.

You can’t talk about classic screen dogs without shouting out Asta, the Wire Fox Terrier (real name: Skippy) that helped cocktail-swigging detectives Nick and Nora Charles solve mysteries in the popular Thin Man movies. Resourceful, brave, and arguably the alpha of this trio — the Charleses did not take on him walks so much as the other way around; he’s introduced dragging Nora into a hotel lounge — Asta became as essential to the series as stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. Skippy played the canine sleuth in the first three films in the series, while several other terriers trained by his owners played the character in the last three. —D.F.

Name another screen pit bull tough enough to take on the Manson family — and win. The ever-loyal Brandy (played largely by a pit named Sayuri) gave former professional stuntman Cliff Booth companionship; in turn, he gives her food if she doesn’t whine at dinnertime. And when it comes time to dispatch of some truly evil hippies who’ve shown up at his buddy Rick Dalton’s place on Cielo Drive, Brandy proves her bite is far, far worse than her bark. “When I was editing the movie, I realized, ‘She’s a great actress,’” Quentin Tarantino said when accepting the Palm Dog Award at Cannes for her. —D.F.

The original Friend of Dorothy, ace exposer of fake wizards, and anti-Wicked Witch activist. The name Terry the Cairn Terrier may not be well-known, but virtually everyone can tell you that Margaret Hamilton’s broomstick-riding villain is out to get Dorothy and her “little dog” Toto, too. Whether she’s chilling in a sepia Kansas or trotting down the yellow brick road, Terry helped turn Toto into a key part of this Hollywood classic, more than earning her $125-a-week salary (that’s $50 more than some of the singing Munchkins got per week, for the record). —D.F.

A reminder that there ain’t no rules that says a dog can’t play basketball — and this pooch dunks! It may be your typical boy-meets-dog, boy-trains-dog, dog-totally-dominates-on-offense story, but credit the Golden Retriever Buddy (who, thanks to trainer Kevin Di Cicco, was not just proficient in hoops but also football, soccer, baseball, and hockey) for making you believe a pooch could seriously go hard in the paint. Sadly, Buddy would die soon after the film made him a star, but his legacy lived on in the many Air Bud movies that followed. —D.F.

The Little Collie That Could spawned an entire cottage industry, and is still as famous as Marilyn or Elvis — just say the name “Lassie,” and virtually everyone between the ages of 12 and 82 can picture some variation of Pal, the gorgeous creature who originally brought the hero of Eric Knight’s short story to life in a number of MGM movies. From the moment that Lassie appeared onscreen with Roddy McDowell and a very young Elizabeth Taylor in this 1943 family drama, the resourceful pet became a huge draw, and would grace not just the movies but TV shows, radio programs, books, and remakes galore — several of which starred Pal’s offspring. —D.F.