Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Out of Temper: Bean to Bar Mystery #3 by Amber Royer (Top 10 List)

Amber Royer’s Top Ten Literary Dogs

In the Bean to Bar Mysteries, there’s a new companion animal introduced in each book.  In Grand Openings Can Be Murder, readers got to meet Knightley, Felicity’s lop-eared bunny.  In 70% Dark Intentions, Felicity wound up taking care of Clive the Octopus, when Clive’s owner went missing.  And now, in Out of Temper, Felicity’s on a cruise ship, where she gets to hang out with a therapy dog.

Which got me thinking about literary dogs.  Dogs have been sidekicks, healing influences, protagonists, commentators, protectors and more.  They’ve been in books and movies, both realistically portrayed and as cartoons.  I ranked my top ten favorites.

There are so many excellent dog characters, I couldn’t possibly fit them all on this list.  These are just my personal favorites.  Honorable mentions include: Wishbone from Wishbone.  Astro from the Jetsons.  Max from The Secret Life of Pets.  Bolt from Bolt.  Tock from The Phantom Tollbooth.  Bitzer from Shaun the Sheep. Luiz from Rio.  Hooch from Turner and Hooch.

Here’s the top ten:

10. Lassie from Lassie Come Home by Eric Knight. Because a dog that smart and kind can’t help but win your heart. In the original work, Lassie, who has been sold, has to find a way to return home to the boy she loves.
11. Buck from Call of the Wild by Jack London. Buck is the ultimate fish-out-of-water character, a Saint Bernard mix from California who gets kidnapped and taken to be a sled dog in the Yukon Territory. A lesser dog wouldn’t have survived . . . but Buck has the determination to be up to the challenge.
12. Buttons from the Animaniacs. Buttons is a long-suffering dog who is put in charge of a mischievous child named Mindy, who is always a step away from catastrophic injury—except that Buttons ingeniously finds her a way out of it. Of course, he usually winds up taking the blame for all the trouble—but that doesn’t stop him from doing his job the next time.
13. Asta from the Thin Man series of films. Asta is a wire fox terrier, but in the original novel, he was cast as a female schnauzer.  The director wanted a more debonair look for Nick and Nora’s pet, since they’re socialites.  Though he’s more of a sidekick than a pet, and helps solve the mysteries.
14. Gromit from the Wallace and Gromit claymation series and films. Gromit keeps Wallace’s plans moving, whether they are shooting a rocket to the moon to find out if it is really made of cheese, or trying to progress Wallace’s love life. He’s resourceful and kind, and always has Wallace’s back.
15. Chet from the Chet and Bernie Mystery Series. The books are told from Chet’s point of view. He’s always loyal to Bernie—and sees Bernie as a better person than he really is.  Chet is distractable, and behaves like a real dog.  But he always WANTS to do the right thing.
16. Dug from Pixar’s Up. The whole story was such an emotional roller-coaster, and Dug was a big part of the film’s heart. He didn’t fit in with the rest of the dog pack in the story because he is too kind and positive-minded.  He’s not perfect, but he is exactly what both Charles and Russell need.
17. Snoopy from the Peanuts cartoons by Charles Schulz. My favorite Peanuts strips are always the ones with Snoopy up on his dog house, trying to write the Great American Novel. As a writer myself, a lot of what he’s going through hits home.  (There’s even a book called Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life.)
18. Winn-Dixie from Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. Winn-Dixie may start out as a scruffy stray, but his loveable nature helps the book’s protagonist make friends. Who wouldn’t want a dog like that?  Even if he is afraid of thunderstorms.
19. Satchmo from Out of Temper . . . by me! Okay, I’m biased, but I really did have a blast writing this quirky beagle. He was a cadaver dog for the police, now retired and training to be a therapy dog.  He may be a little older, but he still has plenty of energy and a penchant for meatballs.  Like any character, I developed him by thinking of him as a real dog, and imagining what events in his past would have gotten him to the point where he enters the story.

I hope you enjoy getting to know Satchmo in Out of Temper, as he helps Felicity solve the mystery.  He has a lot of qualities of my favorite literary dogs.