Dogs

Dogs are members of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in human history.

In the Transformers film series, the central protagonist Sam Witwicky owns a pet Chihuahua named Mojo. In the first film in the series, Mojo suffered a broken leg through unrevealed circumstances and had to wear a cast. Sam carried Mojo's pain medication around with him, which caused him problems later when he was brought into a police station and the officer thought that Sam had been taking them himself.

A woman named Aunt Gladys owned a Pug named Bruiser in her home in Prosperity, Arizona in the 2002 film Eight Legged Freaks. The dog found a hole in the basement of her home, which led into an underground warren occupied by giant mutant spiders. Unfortunately, the dog was killed. Gladys went looking for it and was captured and cocooned by the spiders, but managed to survive.

Mutated dogs
Dogs are sometimes victims of scientific experimentation or exposure to unidentified strains of disease or vaccines or even extraterrestrial influences. A harsh example of how radiation can effect such animals was briefly referenced in the 1972 film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. In the year 1983, NASA astronauts returning from space, brought with them a virus that eradicated all dogs and cats, seemingly overnight. Humans as well as most species of apes were immune to the virus. Humanity, in their overwhelming need for pets, turned instead towards keeping apes as pets. This has been informally referred to as the dog and cat plague.

In the 1992 movie Alien³, a dog becomes a host for an alien symbiont and hatches a xenomorph alien that possessed some physical characteristics to a dog.

In the 1996 comedy/horror film Killer Tongue, radiation from a meteor mutates two poodles owned by a woman named Candy into drag queens. This is not the only instance in which poodles are biochemically altered in such a fashion. In the 2003 film The Hulk, scientist Doctor David Banner uses gamma radiation to increase the size and strength of his dogs.

In film

 * 30 Days of Night: Dogs do not always have the best of luck in horror films. John and Ally Riis owned a kennel of sled dogs that were brutally massacred by a mysterious stranger as part of his continued efforts to cut off all means of travel in and out of the town of Barrow, Alaska.


 * Eight Legged Freaks: A woman named Aunt Gladys owned a Pug named Bruiser in her home in Prosperity, Arizona in the 2002 film Eight Legged Freaks. The dog found a hole in the basement of her home, which led into an underground warren occupied by giant mutant spiders. Unfortunately, the dog was killed. Gladys went looking for it and was captured and cocooned by the spiders, but managed to survive.


 * Halloween: A young girl named Lindsey Wallace owned a golden retriever named Lester. Lester was loud and annoyed Lindsey's babysitter Annie Brackett. Lester caught the scent of psychopath Michel Myers and began barking. Michael waited for the dog to come outside, and then killed it.


 * Thief of Bagdad, The: In the 1940 version of the film, the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar used his magic to turn the young thief Abu into a dog. The spell could only be broken if the King, Ahmad was able to get the princess to hold him in his arms.

Notes & Trivia

 * An individual who is in a position of authority and commands respect may be referred to as a "Top Dog".


 * A person, usually a male, who has indiscriminate sex with another individual or has enough charisma and personality to seduce a person largely considered unobtainable may be called a "dog". The term can be used as both a complement and an insult.


 * A female dog is called a bitch, which is also a derogatory term used to describe an unlikeable woman. One of the most famous "bitches" in sci-fi is the Xenomorph queen alien from the 1986 film Aliens. She earned this nickname after attempting to kill a young girl named Rebecca Jordan when Ellen Ripley shouted at her, "Get away from her, you bitch!"