Spot is a fictional puppy created by

Eric Hill Eric Hill (7 September 1927 – 6 June 2014) was an English author and illustrator of children's picture books. He was best known for his puppy character named Spot. His works have been widely praised for their contributions to child literacy. ...

, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

of children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s. The success of Hill's books about Spot led to other media productions, including television and home video titles, music albums, and CD-ROM titles.

History

First published in 1980, ''Where's Spot?'' was inspired while Hill was working in creative marketing; he noticed his three-year-old son was fascinated by the process of lifting up a paper, on a design he was creating. Captivated by this thought, Hill created a story about a puppy which incorporated the flap design. During the late 1970s, this was an extraordinarily innovative concept, and it took some time for any publisher to take any notice of the idea before Puffin books decided to publish his book. Within weeks of the first book being released it topped the Bestseller list. Hill said "When I first drew Spot I realised that when I came to draw the spot on his body and the tip of his tail I was copying the markings on an aircraft. I grew up drawing aircraft – that is how I learned to draw. "I am quite convinced now, as I look back, that the actual training of drawing cartoons – which is, of course, my style – led to my producing Spot. Cartoons must be very simple and have as few words as possible and so must the Spot books. I designed Spot out of my previous background as a designer and illustrator. It was quite unconscious but I can see now that I have created a ready-made trademark of its kind, with the essential spot on the body and a bit on the tail." Over time, the book was translated into more than sixty languages. In Afrikaans versions of the book Spot is translated to "Otto", widely believed to be the surname of a South African friend of Hill's. This name has been attributed to Spot as many of the books were believed to be inspired by the life of aforementioned friend, J. Otto. In the Netherlands, Spot is known as Dribbel.

Characters

Main characters

* Spot: The protagonist of the series. A

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In th ...

puppy with a

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

spot on each side of his body and a

tip on his tail, Spot appears to be a mixed breed; since his mother is a

beagle The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, th ...

, a pointer, a Dalmatian, or a St. Bernard and his father is a

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

or a

golden retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

. Spot is full of curiosity, helpfulness, and a huge desire to learn. * Sally: Spot's mother. She is also

and has a

spot on her back that goes around the back of her body, as well as two brown spots on each side of her body and a

tip on her tail. For this description, Sally appears to be a

, a pointer, a Dalmatian, or a St. Bernard. Much of the first story, ''Where's Spot?'', involves her going around the house looking for Spot. * Sam: Spot's father. He is also

, but without any spots on his body. For this description, Sam appears to be a

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

or a

. * Susie: Spot's little sister, she is

but has a

spot on her back. Like her big brother Spot, Susie also appears to be a mixed breed; since her mother is a

, a pointer, a Dalmatian, or a St. Bernard and her father is a

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

or a

. * Helen: A

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

who is Spot's best friend. Her colour is dark blue and she has sags under her eyes in the first series of ''The Adventures of Spot''. Starting with later episodes of series one, she is redesigned with a more youthful and less intimidating appearance, turning light blue and losing the sags under her eyes. Starting with series two, she becomes an ever lighter shade of blue. * Steve: A

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

with a

tan Tan or TAN may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...

face, he is playful and full of surprises. * Tom: A

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant me ...

who is Spot's third best friend. He started out

dark green Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint be ...

in colour and has white eye sacs in the first series. He also sports rather sharp-looking incisors and a red colouring inside his mouth on the first series of ''The Adventures of Spot''. Starting with later episodes of the first series, similar to Helen, he is also redesigned with a more youthful and less intimidating appearance, losing the sharp incisors and white eye sacs. Starting with the second series, he also turns to a lighter shade of green. He loves going fishing. Tom loves the drum, considered to be his favourite instrument. His dad is the mayor of the town.

Supporting characters

*Grandma: Spot's maternal grandmother and Sally's mother. She appears in ''Spot Visits His Grandparents''. *Grandpa: Spot's maternal grandfather and Sally's father. He appears in ''Spot Visits His Grandparents''. *Miss Bear: A

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...

, she is Spot's preschool teacher. She first appeared in ''Spot Goes to School''.

Minor characters

* Billy: A

who loves to eat. He appears in the first series of ''The Adventures of Spot''. In the books, he appears in ''Spot's Birthday Party''. * Clare: A

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

. She is one of Spot's classmates and appears in ''Spot Goes to School''. She is the only other girl in Spot's nursery/preschool class besides Helen. * Sybil: An orange

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

who is the series' antagonist. She has a very rude personality, as seen in episodes "Spot's Lost Bone" and "Spot's First Walk" where she scares Spot. She appears only in the first series of ''The Adventures of Spot''. In the U.S., her rude personality was toned down. * Mr. Kangaroo: Spot's neighbour, a

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

that speaks in an Australian accent since kangaroos are a native animal of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. He appears only in the first series of ''The Adventures of Spot''. * Leo: An orange

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...

. * Sidney: A yellowish-green

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...

. * Steve's Mom: Steve's mom. Appears only in ''Spot Sleeps Over''. She is voiced by Linda Gary. * The Mayor: Tom's dad. He only appeared in ''Spot Goes to the Carnival''.

Books

Since 1980 with the success of ''Where's Spot?'', the late Eric Hill went on to create numerous other books, with most being translated to

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

(as well as the TV series, commissioned by

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking ...

), some have also been translated into

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

, and ''Where's Spot?'' has been translated into Cornish. * ''Where's Spot?'' (1980) * ''Spot's First Walk'' (1981) * ''Spot's Birthday Party'' (1982) * ''Spot Goes to School'' (1984) * ''Spot Goes on Holiday'' (1985) * ''Spot Goes to the Farm'' (1987) * ''Spot's First Easter'' (1988) * ''Spot's Goes to a Party'' (1992) * ''Spot Visits his Grandparents'' (1996)

List of Spot sound books

In the 1990s a number of books were released with sound effect, produced by Publications International and published by

Frederick Warne Frederick Warne (13 October 1825 – 17 November 1901) was a British publisher, founder of Frederick Warne & Co. Early life and career Warne was born in Westminster in 1825, sixth and youngest son of the twelve children of Edmund Warne, a build ...

. The U.S. edition of the sound books were somewhat different from the U.K. editions of the book. The text in these editions is slightly altered, and in some cases, the title is changed as well. They are produced and published by Publications International.

Book design

The books are set in the

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

Century Schoolbook Infant, a very rare, single-story version of Century Schoolbook.

Television

With the success of the books the BBC commissioned an animated series, which first appeared on 9 April 1987; with

Paul Nicholas Paul Nicholas (born Paul Oscar Beuselinck; 3 December 1944) is an English actor and singer. He started out with a pop career, but soon changed to musical theatre, playing the lead role in ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' at the West End’s Palace T ...

providing the narration, and renarrated in 2000 by

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

. The series aired on television channel across the world, including

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

in Ireland, with the series dubbed into an Irish language with the title ''Echtrai Bhrain''. A DVD version was released in Japan in 2005 with Japanese, English and Instrumental sound tracks. The DVDs used the same name for Spot as the books in Japan, that being コロちゃん (Korochan)

''The Adventures of Spot'': series 1 (1987)

The first series of ''The Adventures of Spot'', which was animated and produced by

King Rollo Films King Rollo Films Ltd, known as King Rollo Films, is an animation production company established in 1978 by David McKee. For over 30 years, the company has been producing cartoons for children's television. Their studios are based in Honiton, Engl ...

, aired on the BBC between 9 April and 17 July 1987. It consisted of 13 episodes, each 5 minutes long. The episodes were narrated by

(original version) and the music was composed by

Duncan Lamont Duncan William Ferguson Lamont (17 June 1918 – 19 December 1978) was a British actor.Brian McFarlane (Ed): ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' (BFI/Methuen • London • 2000) p397''Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen'' (Amalgamated Pre ...

(original version). ''Episodes in this series:'' # "Spot's Surprise Parcel" (9 April 1987) # "Spot's Lost Bone" (16 April 1987) # "Spot's First Walk" (23 April 1987) # "Spot in the Woods" (30 April 1987) # "Spot's Birthday Party" (7 May 1987) # "Where's Spot?" (14 May 1987) # "Sweet Dreams, Spot" (20 May 1987) # "Spot Goes to School" (28 May 1987) # "Spot Goes to the Circus" (4 June 1987) # "Spot Follows His Nose" (11 June 1987) # "Spot Goes Splash" (18 June 1987) # "Spot's Windy Day" (16 July 1987) # "Spot Goes to the Beach" (17 July 1987)

''The Adventures of Spot'': series 2 (1993)

The second series of ''The Adventures of Spot'' aired between 6 September and 20 December 1993, and, like the first series, consisted of 13 5-minute episodes. Once again, the episodes were produced by King Rollo Films. Paul Nicholas (original version) returned as the voices and Duncan Lamont (original version) returned as composer of the music. ''Episodes in this series:'' # "Spot Goes to the Farm" (6 September 1993) # "Spot Sleeps Over" (9 September 1993) # "Spot Makes a Cake" (13 September 1993) # "Spot Goes to the Park" (16 September 1993) # "Spot Finds a Key" (20 September 1993) # "Spot in the Garden" (23 September 1993) # "Spot Goes to a Party" (27 September 1993) # "Spot's Winter Sports" (15 November 1993) # "Spot Goes to the Fair" (22 November 1993) # "Spot's Favorite Toy" (29 November 1993) # "Spot's First Picnic" (6 December 1993) # "Spot at the Playground" (13 December 1993) # "Storytime with Spot" (20 December 1993)

''Spot's Musical Adventures'' (2000)

''Spot's Musical Adventures'', very similar to ''The Adventures of Spot'', aired between 25 October and 10 November 2000. Like ''The Adventures of Spot'', this series consisted of thirteen episodes, but this time, with a short song in them. The format of the series reverted to the narration format used prior to the specials. For these episodes, however, comedian

was given the role of the narration and voices, instead of Paul Nicholas. The episodes and the songs were all written by Andrew Brenner, and the songs were performed by American London-based actor Dan Russell. ''Episodes:'' # "Spot's Show" (25 October 2000) # "Spot's Treehouse" (26 October 2000) # "Spot's Breakfast" (27 October 2000) # "Spot's Horse" (released in the U.S. as "Spot's Hobby Horse") (30 October 2000) # "Spot's Grandpa" (31 October 2000) # "Spot's Umbrella" (1 November 2000) # "Spot's Band" (2 November 2000) # "Spot's Bath" (3 November 2000) # "Spot's Tent" (6 November 2000) # "Spot Tidies Up" (released in the U.S. as "Spot Cleans Up") (7 November 2000) # "Spot Helps Grandma" (8 November 2000) # "Spot's School Trip" (9 November 2000) # "Hide and Seek" (released in the U.S. as "Spot Plays Hide and Seek") (10 November 2000)

Home Video release specials

A number of special produced VHS were created:

''It's Fun to Learn with Spot'' – Phase 1 (1990)

The first phase of ''It's Fun to Learn With Spot'', produced by Spitfire Television and Living Doll Productions and where released on VHS. It consisted of four episodes, each approximately fifteen minutes in length. These episodes were voiced and narrated by Peter Hawkins. The theme song used in ''The Adventures of Spot'' was licensed from King Rollo Films, so the familiar tune by Duncan Lamont was heard at the beginning and end of each episode. However, music on the show was kept to a minimum. # "Spot's Alphabet" # "Spot's Busy Year" # "Spot Learns to Count" # "Spot Tells the Time"

''It's Fun to Learn with Spot'' – Phase 2 (1994)

The second phase of ''It's Fun to Learn With Spot'' and, like the first VHS, consisted of four fifteen-minute episodes. However the episodes were produced by King Rollo Films and retained the talents of

and Duncan Lamont, in UK. ''Episodes in this series:'' # "Spot Looks at Opposites" # "Spot's First Word Game" # "Spot Looks at Colours" # "Spot Looks at Shapes" Note: The two phases of ''It's Fun to Learn with Spot'' are often listed as one series, even on Penguin Television's website. However, as noted, the two phases were produced four years apart by two different companies and are very different in design. ''Spot's Magical Christmas'' was released in 1995 and ''Spot and his Grandparents Go to the Carnival'' in 1997. These two specials, which are both thirty minutes long, have some notable differences from the normal series. First off, they have no narration, and each character is voiced distinctly. The characters' mouths also move to speech, in comparison to the other episodes, in which the characters' mouths remain static and the entire episode is narrated as a story. There are also several songs in the specials, as there were in ''It's Fun to Learn With Spot''. Voices * Calum Neilsen – Spot (Spot's Magical Christmas) *

Tom Fletcher Thomas Michael Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder ...

– Spot (Spot and his Grandparents Go to the Carnival) *

Josie Lawrence Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in ...

– Sally/Helen *

– Sam (Spot's Magical Christmas) * Philip Pope – Tom *

Steve Steen Steve Steen (born 26 December 1954) is a British television, radio and theatre actor and comedian, known for improvisational comedy works. Early career Whilst a pupil at Clapham College in London, Steen became friends with Jim Sweeney, and th ...

– Sam (Spot and his Grandparents Go to the Carnival)/Steve * Steve Frost – Reindeer #1 * Lee Cornes – Reindeer #2 * Andy Paresi – Santa Claus *

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as t ...

– Santa Claus/Reindeer #1 (U.S. version) *Tress MacNeille – Sally/Helen/Reindeer #2 (U.S. version) *

Carol MacReady Carol MacReady is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Mrs Dribelle in Bodger and Badger. Carol is married to actor James Laurenson. Other television shows she appeared in include: *''Agatha Christie's Poirot'' - Milly ...

– Grandma *

Rob Inglis Robert Inglis (born in 1933) is an actor, writer, journalist, critic and producer who has primarily worked in Australia and England. He is the narrator of the unabridged audiobook editions of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''Th ...

– Grandpa

U.S. Cast

The original ''The Adventures of Spot'' series was distributed in the United States by Disney. Rather than have a singular narrator, the series featured unique character voices. *

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformer ...

– Narrator/Sam/Tom/Steve/Spot's Grandpa/Various *

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

– Sally/Miss Bear/Betsy/Helen/Claire/Tina/Sybil/Various * Jonathan Taylor Thomas,

Ryan O'Donohue Ryan Sean O'Donohue (born April 26, 1984) is an American actor. He is most notable for his performances as a voice actor in many Disney projects especially as Demyx in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game franchise. As a live-action actor, he was ...

and Haley Joel Osment – Spot * Shaun Fleming – (Singing Voice) – Spot *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

– Helen/Sally/Female Reindeer/Spot's Grandma/Various *

– Male Reindeer/Santa Claus

Other media

Music albums

A number of companies have released a number of CDs featuring mainly nursery rhymes, under the name of "The Spot". * ''Spot in the Park with the Flowerpot Gang'' Released in

by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

in the early 2000s, ''Spot in the Park with the Flowerpot Gang'' consists of 26 nursery rhymes. Apparently, it is no longer published. * ''Spot's First Play Songs'' Published by Genius Entertainment and is also available in a box set titled ''Spot's Favorite Toddler Tunes'' (although in this edition, The Alphabet Song is excluded). * ''Spot's Farmyard Friends'' It is also published by Genius Entertainment and is also available in the ''Spot's Favorite Toddler Tunes'' box set. * ''Spot's Classics for Growing Minds'' Bidding on the success of the controversial Mozart Effect, ''Spot's Classics for Growing Minds'' contains twelve classical numbers from various classical composers. Also published by Genius Entertainment, this album has also made its appearance in the ''Spot's Favorite Toddler Tunes'' box set.

CD-ROMs

Two Spot CD-ROM titles were published by

Europress Europress was a British magazine and software publisher based in Adlington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications. The software division was renamed in 1999 to Actualize. His ...

and Hasbro Interactive. Both titles runs on both

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

(Windows 95 or NT4 or newer) and

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software ...

(Os 8 up to OS 9.2.2, and in classic mode from PowerPC Mac OS X up until Mac OS X Leopard) computers. The PowerPC Mac version of the software would not run on newer Intel-based Macs as these newer Macs do not support classic PowerPC or 68k binaries, nor would they run on PowerPC Mac OS X Leopard-based PowerPC Macs as Leopard dropped support for the classic environment the titles would run on.

References

External links

Fun with Spot
official website {{authority control Book series introduced in 1980 BBC children's television shows Animated television series about dogs Characters in children's literature 1987 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings 1980s British children's television series 1990s British children's television series 2000s British children's television series 1980s British animated television series 1990s British animated television series 2000s British animated television series Disney Channel original programming Treehouse TV original programming Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming British television shows based on children's books English-language television shows Television shows about dogs Books about dogs Fictional dogs