Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Animal Companions (who are we kidding? Dogs)

Chet is half of the duo that makes up Little Investigations–he’s the brawn, while Bernie Little is the brains. And the driver. And he does anything that requires an opposable thumb or talking. Chet? He’s about the action.

Chet also handles the books’ narration—his loyalty to and love of Bernie shines forth throughout. Slim-Jims, riding shotgun in Bernie’s series of Porsche convertibles, and Charlie (Bernie’s son) are close. His love of taking down perps comes in a third, but boy, does he relish it. You just can’t not grin while reading Chet’s narration.

image taken from the cover of Heart of Barkness and the Tor/Forge blog post Behind the Scenes: The Making of the Heart of Barkness Cover!

The rather unimaginatively named Dog is Walt Longmire’s steadfast companion. He’s a mix of several breeds—and possibly a small bear. He’s there when Walt (or someone else) needs him. Dog can intimidate a suspect—or someone antagonistic to Walt—very easily. Even more than the rather intimidating Henry Standing Bear.

Dog’s also good at comforting and giving affection to humans, too. Like all good dogs. While no one on this list is going to pass up any form of treat—Dog’s stomach seems to be made of sterner stuff than most.

image taken from a recent Facebook post by Johnson, the dog is his old dog, Max, the inspiration for Dog. He apparently plays a big role in the new Walt Longmire book that releases today!

Edgar is Washington Poe’s Springer Spaniel, who serves as comic relief and as an alarm system for Poe. He probably wouldn’t be much of a defender, if it came down to it (no offense, buddy), but he’s alert for anyone approaching Poe’s rather remote croft. Not that Poe needs a defender, he just needs the alert to get ready for trouble.

Edgar doesn’t get enough screen time, but he lights up the page when he does.

image taken from The English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association's website.

Maggie served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before an IED in Afghanistan killed her handler. This left Maggie with severe PTSD and a second chance at work with the LAPD. It didn’t seem to be going too well for her until she was assigned a partner who was also suffering PTSD after the death of his partner. The two understood each other and helped each other start to recover.

Since then, the pair has made a great team for the LAPD—and even helped out Elvis Cole once. Crais has his hands full with Cole and Pike, but I’d jump on a new Scott and Maggie book so fast that it’d make my head spin.

image taken from the website for Project Paws Alive (a group you might considering donating to)

Mouse is a good dog. Everybody says so. He’s Harry Dresden’s friend, and he’s the protector of Harry’s daughter, Maggie. He’s a Temple Dog, a Foo dog—who pretty much chose to be with Dresden and trained himself by watching Harry.

He’s without doubt the most powerful dog (physically, mentally, and magically) on this list—he will also melt your heart (all of them will, though). If I were ranking these in order of preference, he’d probably be at the top of the list (by a nose). Since his first appearance in Blood Rites, his presence in the series grows and grows (as does audience appreciation for him)—he’s even handled the narration for a couple of short stories.

image taken from Tyler Walpole's page—a print that will soon be hanging on my wall.

I can’t say much about Nobby. I don’t care that the book was published 75 years ago—I’m not going to spoil anything. I can say that he belonged to Mrs. Barry Rackham, after having been given to her by her cousin, Calvin Leeds, who raises and trains them. I can also say that he’s pivotal to the plot.

image taken from the Doberman Pinscher Club of America's website

Oberon is the Irish Wolfhound companion of The Iron Druid (aka Siodhachan O Suileabhain, Atticus O’Sullivan, Connor Molloy). He’s a lover of sausage (and other meat products), a lover of bathtime (especially if it involves stories being told to him), and a fierce fighter. He’s solved some murder mysteries, met gods and goddesses, along with all sorts of supernatural animals. He also knows English—and can communicate telepathically in it to Atticus and anyone else Atticus links him to. With the assistance of Atticus, he’s written “The Book of Five Meats” (a cookbook) and “The Dead Flea Scrolls” (the foundational text of Poochism, a religion for dogs).

Oberon, unlike all of these critters, loves popular culture, movies, and whatnot. He’s funny (even when unintentional) and has a huge heart. There might be times when you’re not so sure how interested you are in his human companions and friends in the books he appears in—but you’ll stick with them for Oberon. I really wish I’d given myself more time to write this post; Oberon deserves a few more paragraphs.

image taken from Kevin Hearne's blog post Oberon's Holiday Special

Named and modeled after Parker’s own German Shorthaired Pointer, Pearl came into the series rather late, but quickly became an ever-present fixture (until her death, and replacement with another German Shorthaired Pointer named Pearl, and then another). Spenser and Susan shared custody of the dog.

Pearl has rarely had an impact on the plot of a novel (although she did contribute in Pastime pretty significantly). Largely, she functions as something for Susan and Spenser to talk about rather than their relationship or Spenser’s case—but she still brightens up any scene she’s in.

image taken from the an author photo on the ofifical Robert B. Parker website

Rose is a very different kind of character than the rest of the dogs on this list in several ways—most definitively in that she’s dead. After a hard life of neglect and abuse, Rose has become a ghostly companion to another ghost. Charlie spends his life looking into murders and other crimes associated with people who were important to him while he was living (including his own murder), and Rose silently accompanies him.

At the same time, Rose both communicates in a way that dog owners will appreciate and will take action on her own to push the investigation forward/direct Charlie. It’s hard to explain.

Nevertheless, when I think of notable dog characters, there’s no way that Rose doesn’t leap to mind.

image taken from a cover of Dead is Better

In real life, Tara was the dog that changed Rosenfelt’s life and inspired him and his wife to begin their shelter for elderly dogs.

In fiction, Tara is Andy Carpenter’s dog and constant companion—the one he turns to for advice and to talk through his cases with. Granted, she doesn’t give him good (or any) feedback, but she can always be trusted to listen to him on their walks. She also inspired Andy to open his dog rescue.

image taken from the cover of Lessons from Tara by David Rosenfelt.