The 10 Best Dogs On TV

They're man's best friends, so it's no wonder that television is becoming quite canine-obsessed these days. First, it was the announcement of the new CBS reality series Dogs in the City, which follows dog trainer and behaviorist Justin Silver as he tackles New York City's rowdiest pooches for impromptu etiquette lessons. Then, word came that Disney had picked up a show all about a dog who...wait for it...has a blog. Amazing.

Dogs have been popular character choices by writers for years, however, most likely due to the fact that often time they're mere observers to the conflict rather than participants, creating a sort of weird understanding between the dog and the audience as we're all in the same boat. It's so totally meta, you see. Except for the dog with a blog show, we're not really sure that can relate to us considering we have opposable thumbs.

In honor of tonight's Dogs in the City premiere, we've picked The 10 Best Dogs On TV to determine just which bow-wow, exactly, is man's ultimate best friend. On television, that is.

Written By Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)

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You knew this was coming. Of course. Of all the dogs in popular culture, Lassie is hands down the most iconic and well-known, having been featured in over 20 incarnations, from films, television programs, and radio shows, since her creation in 1940.

Lassie's story is heartwarming to the core: A lovable, loving rough collie embarks on a long journey to find her family, after they were forced to sell her for money during Depression-era England, because she is the very definition of “loyal” and probably missed other people preparing her dinner for her. Doesn’t it just inspire warm, fuzzy feelings within? Compose yourself, guys, it's getting embarrassing.

Also, the Golden Retriever was apparently always saving that Timmy kid when he fell down "the well," and that's pretty admirable because it happened so many times that you'd think it'd be more beneficial to leave him down there a while so he actually learns not to, you know, play around a fucking well. But hey, she's a finer being than any of us.

While we’d prefer to believe that Heroes ended after a spectacular first season, it’s only the presence of the Bennets’ Pomeranian Mr. Muggles that makes the existence of a second, third, and fourth tolerable in our eyes. Not only was he completely fabulous (born and bred as a show dog, mind you), it was clear from day one that he truly did not give any fucks about what was going on around him concerning superpowers.

For instance: His owner develops the power to heal any and all wounds, then proceeds to cut her toe off in front of him? No care, Muggles was too busy watching a dog show on TV. A crazy psycho killer breaks into the house looking for his owner with the intentions of slicing her head open with his own super powers? Mr. Muggles licked his shoes because said crazed killer pet him. What? Claire was annoying, anyway.

By season four, Mr. Muggles was every viewer: completely and utterly over this shit, to the point where he barely made any appearances at all.

Who didn’t love Wishbone? Come on, he was a Jack Russell Terrier (an adorable one, at that) who daydreamed about classic literature because his owner’s life was too boring to perceive on its own.

Wishbone would, of course, normally be the star of his own daydreams; he portrayed everyone from Romeo Montague to Cyrano de Bergerac to Sherlock Holmes. And the result was a somewhat deceptively educational PBS series, hidden beneath the veil of a show about a dog that was more well-read than his teenaged owner.

Next to Lassie, Rin Tin Tin is undoubtedly one of the most famous dogs ever in show business. It’s not even because he starred in over 20 films, either—it’s his fascinating backstory.

The Reader's Digest version: Rin Tin Tin was found when he was a puppy amongst a litter in a dog kennel suffering from CSR (combat stress reaction) due to all the bombings going on nearby. The American who found him ended up keeping him, and took him back to Los Angeles after the war ended. It was there that he learned tricks and eventually began being noticed for stardom. If that’s not inspirational, you probably have no soul.

The thing to love most about Eddie was that he was practically human. He judged Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) relentlessly, and basically did whatever he wanted when he wanted; not to mention, Eddie totally knew he was the smartest of them all.

Unlike the other dogs on this list, those of which were perhaps put on here for their heroism, bravery, and/or loyalty, Eddie’s spot was earned by merely being just like us. And also because he clearly saw the show the same way we did.

Gossip Girl may have taken a major dip in the ratings while decreasing in quality, but the series still stars a fair amount of fine ladies, so there’s some excuse to pay attention to it. In addition to the presence of Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, though, is newcomer Monkey, introduced just this past season as a pet for the show’s resident billionaire bad boy with a heart of gold or whatever, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick).

It’s hard to steal scenes from bona fide hotties like Lively and Meester, but Monkey managed to do just that in the few scenes he was featured in, thanks to his willingness to rip fake designer duds to shreds (he’s trained to go after fake Prada) and his undying loyalty to, you know, whoever feeds him.

The short-lived Pushing Daisieswas memorable for a few reasons, and Digby was one of them. He was protagonist Ned’s (Lee Pace) dog from childhood, and though he was hit by a truck when Ned was just a kid, he’s still around thanks to Ned’s uncanny ability to bring people back from the dead with the tough of his finger.

For those of you who aren’t familiar,and we assume that’s a lot since the show was untimely canceled, thanks a lot, Ned’s power only worked once, and if he touched the same person twice they’d die again.

Long story short, Ned didn’t touch Digby again, rendering him totally alive and, now, pretty much immortal. Despite the fact that Ned was unable to pet him or even get relatively near him after this, though, their bond remained strong. True love, guys. True love.

Though Backup was only seen a few times throughout the painfully short run of the underrated Veronica Mars, the Mars family's beloved pit bull was an integral part of the show.

In the first few scenes of the pilot, he protects Veronica (Kristen Bell) from a group of bikers who get too handsy, and then we later see him frolicking on the beach with V like it ain’t no thang. Bottom line, Backup is badass, and able to go from hunter to sweetheart in just a few short minutes. Hey, we don’t blame him—who wouldn’t for Kristen Bell?

They say you never realize what you’ve got until it’s gone, but what’s worse is perhaps realizing it and then losing it anyway. Unfortunately, such was the case with Celine from Chris Lilley’s genius mockumentary series Summer Heights High.

Though the little Chihuahua was mostly in the background through the beginning of the series, the scenes that she was featured in were memorable to say the least. When the plot twist that she’d been fatally hit by a car occurred, we were understandably devastated.

It took a few episodes to accept the loss. There the five stages of grief set in, with the reversion to depression happening more than a few times, but, finally, by the finale, we'd come to terms with it. But then, Celine punked us all and turned up alive in the finale. Sure, a bit mentally jarring considering what we’d gone through, but it made us all the more appreciative of her character and overall existence.

If you were to look up the term “best dog ever” in some sort of dictionary of awesome, there would be no text, only a picture of Lost's Vincent. He protected, he consoled, he loved, and, most importantly, he stole every one of his scenes.

Vincent was there until the end; as in, literally, since the ABC hit's series finale was titled “The End” and Vincent owned the last scene, during which he valiantly sits with Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) as he dies. Even if the finale's lack of explanations and sentimental conclusion pissed you off, it's tough to deny the emotional impact left by your pooch Vinny.