Genre Character of the Week has gone to the dogs

Last weekend I finally got around to watching the Pixar film Up. Like many people I pretty much fell in love with the character Dug immediately. I think it was when he said:

"I hid under your porch because I love you." that I started thinking about the kind of dog I wish I could have.

As a kid who was extremely allergic to dogs growing up, I could never have one (the one time we tried worked out very badly), I've always wished that I could own one. As a grown-up blogger who focuses on genre fiction, film and television, my dream dog would have to be one of the following.

Bookmonkey's top five genre dogs he wishes he could have:

5. Frank the pug, from Men in Black 1 and 2

Although a criminal informant, and technically an alien (called a Remoolian) I have to admit that I just love pugs. They are cute, tiny and if I could have one with Frank's fashion sense (pictured left) and ability to speak English I would be pretty happy.

4. Nanook, from The Lost Boys

Dude, this dog killed a vampire. 'nuff said.

3. Dug, from Up (pictured right)

He's really brave, extremely loyal, and again, can speak English. As someone who gets nervous around animals, this is a big selling feature to me.

2. Gaspode, from the Discworld novels

Featuring in at least half a dozen Discworld novels, Gaspode originally appeared in the book Moving Pictures as a sort of wisecracking street smart character. Like Frank and Dug he can speak, but his speech is due to magic. He is very clever, a mutt and I smile every time he shows up in whichever Discworld book I'm reading.

1. Digby, from Pushing Daisies

One of the only two dogs on this list who doesn't speak English, Digby (pictured left) has one huge selling feature - he's effectively immortal. The facts were these, living well past the life-expectancy of a dog and still in good health, Digby owes his current state to having died and been brought back to life by a young pie-maker to be.