History Main / MisterMuffykins

* The {{Pokemon}} Furfrou is a [[GayParee Kalosian]] Poodle Pokemon that trainers (both players and NPCs) style in various ridiculous fur fashions. At least one rich NPC has a Furfrou he treats in this manner, and people are known to fawn over them. However, true to the real-life poodle's origins, its Dex entry notes that they are excellent guard dogs, and their signature ability gives them surprisingly LightningBruiser potential in the game.

* Chester from the Series/TheNanny is an odd one as [[EvilDetectingDog he hates his owner]], C.C. yapping at her but loves Fran (a bit of RealLifeWritesThePlot as the dog was Drescher's dog and would only act affectionate to her).

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine]] had a frickin' ''war poodle'' who struck such fear into the hearts of his opponents that it was presented as a demonic familiar in propaganda leaflets of the time. His name was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boye_%28dog%29 Boye]], and it was suspected that he was actually the Devil himself in disguise. He was rumored to be invincible, able to predict the future, and could catch BULLETS in his MOUTH. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant-Major-General, and died in battle. Yes, a poodle. Your expectations? They were just ''boned''.

* Dachshunds, which were bred to hunt ''badgers'', can be startlingly aggressive for something with such a cute, odd little shape. Badgers, although fluffy and pudgy-looking, are ''vicious little motherfuckers who will stop at nothing to protect their burrow''. Fun fact: "dachs" is German for "badger". They were sent into the badger's burrow to flush it out so the hunter could shoot it when it appeared, usually after realizing that this dog means fucking ''business''. Modern show dachshunds are often bred into bizarre parodies of the original, efficient form--for instance, at least one male dachshund has had the problem of having legs so short, his penis kept bumping into stairs every time he climbed a staircase. This trend is thankfully dying out now, thanks at least in part to the threat of legal action by the RSPCA and other animal-welfare groups.

* Size Leniency, a problem that has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. A toy breed is perfectly capable of killing an infant, or even an adult if they manage to but in the wrong spot, and dogs in general are more focused on behavior than on the size of another dog. As a result, it is extremely common for owners to be injured when small dogs attack larger dogs and trigger a fight. Do not attempt to physically get in the middle of a fight between dogs, people have been seriously injured and even killed doing this. Get help, use objects to separate the dogs, or throw water/soda/tea/whatever on them.

* Mrs. Chase's nasty-tempered lapdog (a.k.a. "the hairy mosquito" or [[GratuitousSpanish "el perro microscopico"]]) in the ''Series/FawltyTowers'' episode "The Kipper and the Corpse".
** In the commentary for this episode, John Cleese talks about how, in comedy, you can get away with being far meaner to a smaller dog(as in AFishCalledWanda) than to a larger one. Cleese theorizes that this is because small dogs don't register as "dogs" to people, they are, in his words, "basically big hairy insects" and mentions that if Mrs. Chase's dog were a large breed, killing it wouldn't have been funny.

* Subverted in ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide''.
** One strip (the one where he theorizes why people hate these dogs) has the owner shouting at her dog Fifi to come home, Fifi running like mad towards the door, and... ''the pet door propped and nailed shut from the inside''.
** One has three poodles discussing the pros and cons of murdering their owner.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''

** And in ''Discworld/TheTruth'', Gaspode attempts to disguise himself as one of these, with mixed results:
-->''All in all, the effect was not of a poodle, but of malformed poodlosity. That is to say, everything about it suggested "poodle" except for the whole thing itself, which suggested walking away.''

*** Kept. By the time of ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Wuffles has died and we learn that the vastly cynical and pragmatic Vetinari still leaves the dog's favorite brand of dog biscuit on his grave every day. It's likely that Vetinari confiscated Mr. Fusspot for companionship, as well as to actually own the chairman of the bank.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''
** Funny we should mention Paris Hilton, as a memorable episode showed her literally [[DrivenToSuicide driving her pets to suicide]] through misaimed attention. And unfortunately, [[ButtMonkey Butters was her latest pet]].
** An earlier episode showed how AxeCrazy a jealous Jennifer Lopez can be when she tosses her puppy out of a moving car.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''

* And, of course, there's Paris Hilton's little dog Tinkerbell.
* And still, Tinkerbell was NOTHING compared to Leona Helmsley's dog [[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/03/nyregion/03trouble.html?_r=1&fta=y Trouble]]. (But then again, the owner was a RichBitch...)
* Queen Elizabeth II's corgis are rumoured to attach themselves to the odd ankle, though given Her Majesty is meant to be a very good dog trainer, the extent to which this is true is dubious...
** Ankle nipping is a fairly common problem in corgis, so it's not unexpected even in Her Majesty's dogs. Corgis are not like most dogs their size, and are full-blown working dogs that are bred to herd cattle. Their means of doing so? Nipping at the feet of the cattle. This is a trait purposely present in the breed, and when they have no livestock to work with, it can turn up as nipping other pets or humans (especially children). It's much like how a bored border collie will take to trying to herd humans.

* One problem with small dogs is that their owners often fail to train them properly, figuring that they're too small to actually do any damage if they misbehave. It's a bad-owner problem rather than a bad-dog problem, resulting in a yapping, snapping, house-fouling little beast which has always been allowed to get away with behavior that wouldn't be tolerated in a bigger breed. See roughly one ''Series/ItsMeOrTheDog'' segment in three.\\\
The other problem is that a lot of small dogs are terriers. Terriers are bred to be high energy, stubborn, independent, vermin killing machines; the cuteness is merely a side effect of their needing to fit down small tunnels. If they are not exercised, socialized, disciplined, and stimulated properly (read at least one hour of walking every day, plus access to a secure garden, plus consistent enforcement of acceptable behaviors, plus very tough toys, plus intensive meet-and-greet with other dogs and people from puppyhood onwards) they will turn into pint sized dictators. Not handbag dogs in the slightest. Terriers with more recent working lineages, especially Jack Russels, can be even worse. Many a dog trainer bemoans that Jacks are now incredibly popular.\\\
This is actually called Size Leniency, and has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. A toy breed is perfectly capable of killing an infant, or even an adult if they manage to but in the wrong spot, and dogs in general are more focused on behavior than on the size of another dog. As a result, it is extremely common for owners to be injured when small dogs attack larger dogs and trigger a fight. Do not attempt to physically get in the middle of a fight between dogs, people have been seriously injured and even killed doing this. Get help, use objects to separate the dogs, or throw water/soda/tea/whatever on them.

* ''KamenRiderFaiz'' has sort of an amusing take on this, in that the small fluffy dog Chaco is owned by ScaryBlackMan Mr. J.

->''"If God had intended for dogs to be fashion accessories, they would have been made with handles."''

* An odd version appears in ''Film/Blade Trinity'', where TripleH's character owns two rottweilers and a little pomeranian [[spoiler: all of which are the split-faced vampire type as well]].

* An odd version appears in ''Film/BladeTrinity'', where TripleH's character owns two rottweilers and a little pomeranian [[spoiler: all of which are the split-faced vampire type as well]].

** Funny we should mention Paris Hilton, as a memorable episode showed her literally driving her pets to suicide through misaimed attention.

So an increasingly common subversion has been to show the dog as a sympathetic character; a victim of too much misguided attention with a master who is [[AndCallHimGeorge delusional]] if not [[HumansAreBastards outright hateful]]. While the trope is older than this, one has to wonder how many of these are influenced by Paris Hilton's dog.

* Dire poodles and other killer yappy dogs occasionally appear in comedic games. The [[ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG Mr. Welch]] list [[TheLoonie discourages this]].

The other problem is that a lot of small dogs are terriers. Terriers are bred to be high energy, stubborn, independent, vermin killing machines; the cuteness is merely a side effect of their needing to fit down small tunnels. If they are not exercised, socialized, disciplined, and stimulated properly (read at least one hour of walking every day, plus access to a secure garden, plus consistent enforcement of acceptable behaviors, plus very tough toys, plus intensive meet-and-greet with other dogs and people from puppyhood onwards) they will turn into pint sized dictators. Not handbag dogs in the slightest.\\\

This is actually called Size Leniency, and has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. A toy breed is perfectly capable of killing an infant, and dogs in general are more focused on behavior than on the size of another dog. As a result, it is extremely common for owners to be injured when small dogs attack larger dogs and trigger a fight. Do not attempt to physically get in the middle of a fight between dogs, people have been seriously injured and even killed doing this. Get help, use objects to separate the dogs, or throw water/soda/tea/whatever on them.

Expect this character to be CuteButCacophonic, whether friendly or not. If they can back up their bark with bite, this makes them a KillerRabbit. If they can't but they try to fight anyway, they are a BoisterousWeakling. Compare RightHandCat. Contrast (naturally) BigFriendlyDog. And please don't EatTheDog... [[PragmaticVillainy as there's barely enough meat here for an]] ''[[PragmaticVillainy hors d'oeuvre]].''

* Maria's dog Furball in ''Literature/TheHouseOfTheScorpion'', described as a "shrill, rat-sized dog that forgot his house training when he got excited."

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* Elle with Bruiser the (Gay) Chihuahua in ''Film/LegallyBlonde''. (They were even wearing ''matching Jacquelin Kennedy hats'' at one point.)