Sinbad, the Lovable Mutt
In the midst of the looming Second World War, a Coast Guard vessel watched over the eastern coastline.
However, little did the ship captain know that one of his mates had unwittingly bought himself a puppy the night before.
Initially intended to keep his girlfriend company while at sea, sailor “Blackie” Rother didn’t anticipate his girlfriend’s landlord having an issue with pets.
So he headed back to vessel Campbell with the well-intentioned present hidden inside his sea bag.
Sinbad, a brown and black mutt, was shortly discovered by the captain, who somewhat surprisingly saw the animal as an opportunity to teach his crew responsibility, ordering them to take care of the dog.
Perhaps not far from the captain’s line of reasoning, taking care of Sinbad became a bonding resource and comradery among the sailors.
So much so that Sinbad even became enlisted, signing his papers with a paw dipped in ink. Sinbad took his enlistment seriously; he was promoted to Chief Dog after several years in 1st Class.
Sinbad lived to see 14 years of life, with 11 of them proudly serving with the United States Coast Guard.
He was buried with ceremony and officially recognized as a Coast Guard Cutterman, honoring the five years he spent on the Campbell in which he even witnessed wartime. Now his memory lives on as one of the most famous dogs in history.
While the above dogs are the most famous in human history, they are far from the only ones to achieve fame.
The following are other pups that any dog lover would appreciate meeting due to their fame.
Boo was an adorable dog that lived from 2006 to 2019. He became famous in 2010 when Kesha Tweeted about him.
While far from a guard dog, They wrote two books about him and his life in New York City.
The Obamas dogs, Bo and Sunny, Portuguese water dogs, are also fairly famous.
After the Obamas adopted these dogs, requests to adopt the breed soared.
Another dog made famous by the internet, Doug the Pug, has millions of followers on social media.
This dog is not a mixed breed, but his cuteness brought him to fame. He now has a line of dog toys and a book.
If you watched “Petticoat Junction” or “Benji,” then you have seen the acting skills of Higgins.
The movie “Benji” is the dogs main claim to fame, although his 149 appearances on “Petticoat Junction” earned him a PATSY award.
You also likely saw this dog in “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Green Acres.”
Laika was the first animal to go into orbit around the earth while still alive, beating humans.
The Soviet Union sent Laika, one of the worlds rescue dogs, into space in 1957.
Barry is one of the famous rescue dogs in Switzerland. From 1800 to 1812, he saved more than 40 people.
He died when Napoleon Bonapartes soldiers thought he was a bear.
Look back further into human history, and you will find the guard dog Soter.
He lived in Corinth, Greece, in 456 B.C. and warned the citys residents about attacking Persians, saving them.
Another famous ancient dog is Peritas, the guard dog of Alexander the Great from around the 350s or 360s B.C.
Peritas bit an elephant in the face to save Alexander the Great from it.
The elephant was part of an attack from Darius III, and this occurred well before Alexander the Great completed the actions that would make him a key part of human history.
Mastiffs are the closest modern breed to Peritas.
Moving up a little more recently in history is the Bloodhound Donnchadh.
He belonged to Robert the Bruce, who became the King of Scotland. Well before that, Doncchadh attacked Robert, Bruces would-be attackers.
Although we dont know their names, many people know Ivan Pavlovs dogs used in his famous experiments. They helped him discover classical conditioning.
Although hes fictional, Scooby-Doo still earns a spot on this list for dog lovers. He has been in cartoons since the 1960s and is a common favorite.
If we include fictional dogs, then Blue from “Blues Clues” also makes a list.
This show has been on the air since 1996, showing how dogs played a key role in early childhood learning and entertainment.
Buddy from the “Air Bud” movies is another fictional honorable mention.
Both Lady and Tramp from the famous “Lady and the Tramp” also deserve inclusion.
Other fictional dogs worth mentioning include Snoopy, Wishbone the Jack Russel terrier, and Santas Little Helper from “The Simpsons.”
What Is the First Famous Dog?
The first dog to become famous was likely Laika.
This was originally a stray dog and but became the first dog to go into space. The Soviet Union sent Laika to space in Sputnik 2 back in 1957.
Unfortunately, this rescue dog died in space as part of the efforts to better understand the effects of space on animals.
Lex, the German Shepherd
Just 5 months after being stationed in Fallujah, Iraq, Marine Dustin Lee and his trained canine companion, Lex, encountered a fatal rocket attack for Dustin.
Lex, although injured by shards and shrapnel, survived the attack. Reportedly, the faithful dog had to be forcibly dragged from his owner’s side so that paramedics could inspect the young Marine.
Dustin Lee was described as an animal lover in his youth and owned many childhood dogs and rode horses.
Dustin was a soldier and a dog trainer in the military, roles that eventually gave him the title of kennel master while on base in Albany, Georgia, before his deployment.
While he loved training all canines, his bond with Lex was impenetrable. After his death, his ailing family pleaded with the U.S. Marine Corps to retire bomb-sniffing canine soldier Lex so that they could adopt the dog.
After months of conversation and paperwork, Lex became the first working military dog to receive early retirement to be adopted by a lost Marines surviving family and keeping his title as one of the most famous dogs in history.
The Most Famous Dog Who Ever Lived
Dogs played a massive role in history. They were a part of beloved movies, scientific discoveries and even helped soldiers during the war. It doesn’t come as big surprise humans and dogs have a close bond since we have survived and worked side-by-side for tens of thousands of years. However, some dogs took it a step further and cemented their place in human history forever.
Some of the famous dogs are animated characters. From Goofy, Scooby-Doo, Lady, Tramp, and all the Dalmatians, we loved watching exciting stories about our favorite animals. Unfortunately, we will not mention them this time. Here are the 7 most famous real dogs in history.
One of the most famous dogs in the world is the first dog in space – Laika. Some have praised this dog because of the action she took part in, and others were in a state of shock that such cruelty was done to an innocent dog. We certainly don’t condone animal experiments, and such cruel ones are genuinely despicable. However, there is no denying that Laika holds a special place in the history of space exploration.
Laika was the first dog that was sent to space. In fact, she is the first living creature that was sent to Earth’s orbit. Laika was a stray Husky mix. On November 7, 1957, on the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, she was launched into the Earth’s orbit 2.000 miles above Moscow. Laika had gone through rigorous training only to be sent to space where she had enough oxygen for 7 days. She was forced to give her life, and now she is one of the most famous dogs in history.
Unlike the sad story of Laika, Balto has achieved fame through his life-saving success. There are movies and cartoons made in Balto’s honor and his achievement. He was a dog that lead the last part of the famous 1925 Nome serum run. The story follows a dangerous diphtheria outbreak in Nome. The only way its citizens could be saved is if they were given a medication that was located 500 miles away in Anchorage.
Balto was a Siberian Husky and a well-known sled dog from the kennel owned by Leonhard Seppala. Balto was a part of the team that ran through a freezing blizzard to deliver the life-saving medicine that helped young people in Nome recover from a deadly epidemic. However, Balto’s success was not without a bit of controversy. He was never a leading dog, and some have claimed that a Husky named Fox actually had the lead. We might never find out the actual truth, but to this day, Balto is praised as one of the best and most famous sled dogs in the world.
If you want to know more about the true hero of the 1925 Nome serum run, check out this article – The true story about Togo, the sled dog.
The most famous German Shepherd in history is a dog called Rin Tin Tin. This dog has an unusual life story. He was found in France in the middle of World War I. Rinty was adopted and saved by an American soldier Lee Duncan. Unfortunately, the rest of the Rinty’s littermates did not make it.
Lee took Rin Tin Tin with him to Los Angeles, where his new life and road to fame began. The first time Rin Tin Tin was noticed, he was apparently jumping 12 feet in the air, which caught a Hollywood filmmaker’s eye. He employed Rinty and his owner to star in a movie. This dog was a natural talent and went on to star in more than 30 Hollywood movies. He even became the unofficial mascot of Warner Bros. Studios.
If you are a dog lover, you probably heard the story of the most loyal dog in the world. Hachikō was an Akita Inu, and his love for his owner was proven to be undying. There are several movies dedicated to the story of Hachikō, and the Hollywood remake stars Richard Gere as Hidesaburō Ueno, Hachikō’s owner. If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure you prepare some tissues because it will make you cry.
The story of Hachikō is legendary. He was brought home by professor Ueno when he was still a puppy. Every day, the professor went to work from the Shibuya Station. Hachikō learned when his owner returned and waited for him every day at the station to return home from work. One day, professor Ueno had a fatal hemorrhage at work. He never returned to that station, which broke his dog’s heart. Despite that, Hachikō returned to the station every day to wait for the professor. This dog is used in Japan as an example of loyalty and fidelity.
Toto is Dorothy’s dog in the famous movie classic “The Wizard of Oz.” If you have seen the movie, you probably remember the line, “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Before Toto’s debut and close-up alongside Judy Garland, she was already pretty used to the big screen. Toto starred in 17 movies and was one of the most famous dogs in Hollywood. Toto’s real name was Terry, and she had an amazing story.
This small Cairn Terrier was abandoned when she was a puppy, but luckily for her, she was saved by Carl Spitz. Mr. Spitz was a dog trainer that worked achieved the status of the unofficial dog trainer for Hollywood. He made Terry one of the biggest canine movie stars in history and booked her some of the biggest Hollywood movies at the time.
With the rise of social media, dogs and their owners were given a chance to reach millions of followers and admirers worldwide. No one took advantage of that better than a tiny Pomeranian called Boo. His owner made him the world’s most famous social media canine star. Boo was even praised as the cutest dog in the world, although all dog owners will disagree and say their dog is the cutest ever.
Boo’s success was tremendous. At the time of his death in 2019, Boo had more than 19 million followers on his social media channels. He had two books written about him and even had a stuffed toy made after him. The success this small dog had has gained a lot of financial gains for his owners, and he paved the way for other canine social media stars whose life we love to follow to this day.
Another classic movie and TV series with a canine leading role is the series about Lassie. Most dog owners are well aware of the fame Lassie brought to his breed, the Rough Collie. There isn’t a child who has seen Lassie stories that didn’t beg their parents to get a Collie. The first role of Lassie was fulfilled by a male dog named Pal. The interesting thing is that while Lassie is a girl, all the roles were played by male Collies.
The original series about Lassie started in the 1940s, and the last movie was made in 2005. That is a testament to Lassie’s fame and adoration. It is one of the most beloved canine characters in TV history. Plus, the roles of Lassie were played by different dogs from Pal’s litters, which means that it is a very lucrative business for their owners. Apparently, Pal, the original Lassie, made twice as much as his costar Elizabeth Taylor.