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Top Dogs: 25 of Our Faves in Pup Culture!

Top Dogs: 25 of Our Faves in Pup Culture!

In honor of the Westminster Dog Show (which airs today and tomorrow on USA and CNBC), we throw a bone to our favorite canine stars from movies and TV

By EW Staff

Updated February 14, 2010 at 07:00 PM EST

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Everett Collection

BEETHOVEN (St. Bernard)
The Beethoven movies

Roll over, Beethoven! This giant, mischievous stray wasn't one for tricks — but he still managed to foil an animal testing ring, outsmart two dog thieves (Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci), and scuttle a bad business deal.

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Everett Collection

HOOCH (Mutt)
Turner & Hooch

He's ugly, smelly, and has a serious drooling problem. But, for uptight cop Scott Turner (Tom Hanks), he's also the only clue to a murder.

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Everett Collection

LASSIE (Rough Collie)
The Lassie TV show and movies

Oh, Lassie. She's the only dog pretty enough to steal the spotlight from Elizabeth Taylor (in 1943's Lassie Come Home and 1946's Courage of Lassie). And without the classy collie (the character was female, even if ''she'' was always played by males), Timmy would still be stuck in that damn well.

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Scooby-Doo: Everett Collection

SCOOBY-DOO (animated; vaguely inspired by a Great Dane)
The Scooby-Doo cartoons

He's a slacker hound who's easily spooked (and arguably stoned), but Scooby-Doo always got the bad guy in the end. C'mon, give the pup a Scooby Snack!

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Barry Wetcher

MARLEY (Yellow Lab)
Marley & Me, book and movie

A little schlocky? Sure. But with one look at those twinkling eyes and tousled blond hair, didn't you just melt? (We're talking about Marley, here, not Owen Wilson.)

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Everett Collection

OLD YELLER (Mutt)
Old Yeller, book and movie)

A little boy. A rabies outbreak. A shotgun. If you didn't cry at this ending, you're probably a cat person.

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Pixar/Disney

DUG (animated; Yellow Lab)
Up!

Answers the eternal question: What is your dog thinking? ''SQUIRREL!''

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THE TOILET PAPER PUPPIES (Yellow Labs)
Cottonelle ads

What do dogs have to do with toilet paper? Who gives a ----! They're so darn cute, we just don't care.

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Everett Collection

SNOOPY (animated; beagle)
Peanuts comics and cartoons

He's the Flying Ace. Joe Cool. But we like Snoopy best when he's perched atop his doghouse, looking at his typewriter. ''Beagle on the roof, aloof.''

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Frank Masi

BAXTER (Border Terrier)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

BAXTER!!!! The sight of Jack Black punting the poor pup off a bridge leaves us all howling incoherently in a ''glass case of emotion.''

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Fox

BRIAN GRIFFIN (animated; mutt)
Family Guy

Psst! Don't tell Stewie, but this animated canine is smarter than the rest of the Griffin clan — combined.

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Everett Collection

MAX (animated; mutt)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Only a dog could love someone as cold-hearted and conniving as the Grinch. Besides, Max does look awfully cute in his antler disguise. (As canine Christmas costumes go, it's an instant classic!)

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Everett Collection

LADY AND THE TRAMP (animated; American Cocker Spaniel and a mutt)
The Lady and the Tramp

Dogs! On a date! Eating spaghetti! There's never been a better four-legged love story.

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Everett Collection

TOTO (Cairn Terrier)
The Wizard of Oz

Toto hopped into that basket — and the handbag dog was born. You're welcome, Paris.

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CLIFFORD (illustrated; Big Red Dog)
Clifford the Big Red Dog children's book series

The only thing better than a dog for kids? A 25-foot-tall dog, of course!

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SPUDS MACKENZIE (Bull Terrier)
Bud Light ads

He's an '80s icon of cool. Just one look at his 1987 Super Bowl ad debut, and kids everywhere were lining up for Spuds stuffed animals, t-shirts...and Bud Light?

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Everett Collection

EDDIE (Jack Russell Terrier)
Frasier

Frasier was uptight, Marty was moody, and Niles was just...Niles. No wonder, at the height of his popularity, Eddie the dog reportedly received more fan mail than any of his human counterparts.

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Everett Collection

All 101 Dalmatians (Dalmatians — duh!)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians

In this case, at least, quantity does equal quality.

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Everett Collection

RIN TIN TIN (German Shepherd)
The Rin Tin Tin stories from radio, TV, and film

Quite possibly the world's first canine superstar, Rin Tin Tin got his big break when he was cast as a wolf in the 1922 film The Man From Hell's River. A slew of silent film roles followed, along with several radio series. The dog even earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Nick Jr.

BLUE (animated; mutt)
Blue's Clues

Kids loved Blue and the mini-mysteries he'd lead them on. Moms mostly loved host Steve Burns.

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ELIZABETH TAYLOR (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel)
Charlotte's dog on Sex and the City

You know Charlotte York wouldn't settle for just any dog. For SATC's lovable Miss Priss, only an adorably cuddly pure-bred would do.

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Everett Collection

BENJI (Mutt)
The Benji movies

This lovable pup has been getting into — and out of — scrapes since his big-screen debut in 1974.

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Everett Collection

The entire canine cast of Best in Show

The dog-show contenders — a Norwich Terrier, a Weimaraner, a Bloodhound, a standard poodle, and a Shih Tzu — are much better behaved than their hilariously eccentric owners in this Christopher Guest comedy.

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ABC

VINCENT (Yellow Lab)
Lost

Mysteries abound on the Island. One thing that doesn't need explaining? The enduring appeal of Vincent, the only canine survivor of Oceanic Flight 815.

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GIDGET (Chihuahua)
Taco Bell ads

After seeing those ads, who didn't immediately quiero one of those adorable puppies? And a chalupa, too, for that matter.

Did we leave off any of your preferred pooches? Bark back at us in comments section!

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