All Animals Are Dogs / Western Animation

• An episode of Adventures of the Gummi Bears features a mermaid and her guardian Sea Monster that acts exactly like a dog.
• Animaniacs:
  • A major running gag is that Runt will bristle with faux bravado at the mere mention of a cat, yet thinks his feline friend Rita is a dog. (This is only Runt's perspective, though; Rita doesn't particularly act like a dog and doesn't even try.)
  • Rita pretends to be a dog in a small part of one of the songs in "Witch Hunt," but it's only because of extenuating circumstances — the villain of that episode was rounding up cats, believing them to be witches.
  • Wakko Warner would sometimes behave like a dog from time to time; walking on all fours, doing tricks for treats, etc.
• The Backyardigans has a couple of examples, such as the Angriest Clam (called "Clammy" by Pablo) during "Legend of the Volcano Sisters", and Boy, a dinosaur, during "Caveman's Best Friend".
• The Batman has Catwoman point out that hyenas were more closely related to cats than to dogs in one episode when Joker tries to make those two hyenas attack her, only for them to be tamed similarly to the below mentioned panther and saber-toothed cat. Yet they lick her face too in a more dog-like manner despite this, and when Harley shows up in a later episode, they are ordered to sit and actually do it.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold
  • Aquaman's pet dolphin Fluke acts exactly like a dog, from his panting to his love of attention to playing fetch with Aquaman.
  • Platelet, a white blood cell, also acts this way. And responds to Aquaman's fish-telepathy. This causes The Atom no end of consternation.
• Beetlejuice features Poopsie, The Monster Across The Street's pet, who acts very much like a small yappy canine. Justified in that Poopsie is a canine with cattle-like features AKA a Bull Dog.
• Ship from Ben 10: Alien Force acts like a dog, right down to wagging his tail, making a bark-like sound, and the implication of licking his owner's face on at least one occasion (despite having no mouth), even though he is a techno-organic alien blob spawned from another blob with human intelligence. Also, in Ultimate Alien, Kevin meets a fish on a water planet that can walk around on land and yips like a small dog.
• Gaston the ladybird in Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is Ben Elf's dog. Except when he's Ben's motorbike.
• Bluey: In "Shaun", the eponymous emu (played by Bandit's hand) acts like an untrained non-anthropomorphic dog^note since everyone is a Funny Animal canine, and Bluey and Bingo learn how to train "him" to be friendly and calm.
• In the pilot episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers, when Linka mentions non-monetary benefits of helping the environment, the oil-soaked walrus Wheeler is cleaning starts licking his face like a happy dog, getting him to concede her point. It also accepts Wheeler hugging it, something a dog might do but not a wild animal.
• In classic Casper cartoon "There's Good Boos Tonight", a baby fox behaves exactly like a puppy and plays with Casper like one.
• This is one of the reasons why the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers episode "Prehysterical Pet" is a carnival of Furry Confusion. It features a small creature that Dale doesn't even have to teach the usual dog tricks. (Steggy behaves more like a dog than most dogs in the show, and so do Nimnul's robot dogs in "Catteries Not Included".) Steggy is not only intelligent, but in fact an alien animal with his own egg-shaped star ship who traveled to Earth to find out what happened to his brethren — he is a miniature Stegosaurus (this particular episode was truly epic in its insanity and the amount of times the rules of paleontology are blatantly ignored). He temporarily dumbs down during the episode, but he does not forget the dog tricks.
• Data 7, the cyborg jaguar in Cybersix, displays a few doglike traits, including licking Cybersix's face on multiple occasions.
• Happened in one Danny Phantom episode; a sphinx behaved like a dog when Tucker managed to command it.
• DC Animated Universe:
  • Batman: The Animated Series:
    • Harley Quinn owns rather dog-like hyenas named Bud and Lou, who each wear a collar. They more commonly show other dog-like traits when she is around, as they have licked Harley's face, gnawed on a bone, and were once walked on leashes, despite hyenas being more closely related to cats.
    • In The New Batman Adventures, Catwoman encounters a vicious black panther. When Catwoman tames it, it starts playfully licking her hand like a dog. Though big cats do this as a sign of affection, their tongues are so rough that bare human skin will bleed from getting licked too much; think of how rough and ticklish a house cat's tongue is when it licks you, and multiply that several times (though Catwoman did have her hand covered when the panther did this). The mutated saber-toothed cat-like creature that mauls Batman is tamed in the same manner as the earlier panther when Catwoman leaps into the arena to defend Batman from it. Being a far larger creature that towers over Catwoman, with a huge tongue that licks a larger surface area from her waist to her head (and unlike the panther from before, the tongue manages to lick the part of her face that is exposed by her cowl), it should realistically have accidentally hurt her in its affection, but it only makes her laugh. Her feline empathy ability probably has a hand in her taming of these animals.
  • In an episode of Batman Beyond, the sound-manipulating villain Shriek releases a high-frequency sound similar to a dog whistle all over Gotham City. All non-humans are affected, including a gorilla. Think about that one for a minute. If there's a noise audible to primates that is high-pitched enough to make primates go nuts, it'd naturally be affecting the humans too.
• Detentionaire subverts this in one episode where a worried Biffy loses track of Lee and tries to get his cat to follow Lee's scent like a tracking dog. Instead, Mr. Rumplekittykat just curls up in Lee's shirt and falls asleep. The Tazelwurm also generally behaves pretty realistically for a fictional reptilian creature, with the occasional exception of licking people's faces in greeting.
• Justified on Dexter's Laboratory when Dexter creates a T. rex with the actual brain of a dog.
• Duck Dodgers has the titular character taming a rampaging space dragon by treating it as an overgrown puppy in the episode "Hooray For Hollywood Planet."
• Tootsie the Triceratops in DuckTales (1987) is Bubba's pet Triceratops and behaves like a dog.
• The Evil Con Carne episode "Boskov's Day Out" had Major Doctor Ghastly walk Boskov, a bear, on a leash. Boskov also at one point tries to pee on a tree by hiking his hind leg.
• In one episode of The Flamin' Thongs, Holden starts training a diprotodon (a giant prehistoric wombat). He teaches it basic dog tricks like sit, fetch, roll over, etc., all of which Womby happily learns.
• The case of Dino from The Flintstones cannot be ignored here, though he was that setting's equivalent of a dog.
• Gargoyles has Bronx and other gargoyle beasts, which look only somewhat dog like but bark and howl. Word of God holds that they are to gargoyles what chimpanzees are to humans, and considering that they seem to understand everything being said to them — "I'm going to call you Bronx! How do you like that?" "Bronx, find Elisa!" — this makes some sense.
• Shep from George of the Jungle; George being a Cloudcuckoolander, he actually thinks Shep is a dog. Shep was an African elephant (although in the movie he was portrayed by an Indian elephant), who are infamously untamable compared to their Indian counterparts, and even they act nothing like dogs. Definitely Rule of Funny in this case.
• In the Goldie & Bear episode "The Egg", the baby dragon, "Skippy," that hatches from the egg which Goldie & Bear discover barks, wags his tail, plays fetch, and otherwise generally behaves like a dog.
• Harley Quinn (2019) sees Bud and Lou once again display this behavior, eating dog treats and living in a doghouse, plus briefly licking Harley in the Season 2 premiere.
• In Hey Arnold! the title character had a pet pig named Abner who behaved more like a dog. In one episode when Abner gets lost though, Ernie questioned this trope, saying that "Pigs aren't dogs" doubting Abner can find his way back the same way a dog can.
• Hilda: Twig, Hilda's "deerfox" acts more like a dog than either a fox or a deer.
• In The Hive, a series about a family of anthropomorphic bees, Buzzbee's grandparents have a pet flea named Jump who beehaves just like a dog, yipping, fetching and tracking.
• One episode of Jem has a fox barking, whining, and playing fetch like a dog. He seems to be one of the side-characters pets. While efforts to domesticate foxes exist, they still don't act like dogs and this episode was from The '80s (prior to semi-domesticated foxes becoming dog-like).
• On Jimmy Two-Shoes a creature called a poodle rat is introduced as some sort of household pet. However, when Heloise begins showing it affection, it acts like a dog.
• On JoJo's Circus, Goliath is a lion and even has some degree of sentience, despite being JoJo's pet. Despite this, he sometimes makes barking or yipping noises and does other dog-like things.
• Jonny Quest:
  • "Turu The Terrible" has the Quests encounter a trained attack Pteranodon.
  • In "Dragons of Ashida", the eponymous genetically engineered killer lizards obey Sumi emphatically, even though they are explicitly stated to be savage killers that willingly devour each other if given the chance, and kill Ashida himself off-screen. Justified by the fact that Sumi is explicitly referred to as their "keeper" and has trained them to obey him since they were young; plus, Sumi is a giant of a man who is one of the few humans around who could probably wrestle one of them into submission if it got rowdy, implying that their obedience is ingrained.
• Justin Time (2011): Justin frequently encounters animals in his adventures, and almost every one of them — from dinosaurs to alligators to a narwhal — behaves just like a dog. Of course, the show takes place mostly in a kid's imagination, so it makes sense that he'd assign familiar traits to them.
• Kaeloo: In one episode, Mr. Cat tries to tame Bad Kaeloo (who is a toad), and she starts wagging her "tail" and panting like a dog.
• In Kim Possible, it is subverted in an episode where Kim and Ron need to enter a dog show to gain access to a thief's home. Rufus needed to be taught how to act like a dog.
• The Legend of Tarzan makes the same mistake as Batman Beyond, and on the same species to boot.
• The Lion Guard: Played for Laughs when a giraffe runs over a hyrax (a rodent-looking mammal) off-screen and the hyrax makes dog whimpering noises.
• Looney Tunes:
  • One Porky Pig short, "Prehistoric Porky", has the protagonist own a dinosaur named Rover.
  • The caveman in "Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur" has a similar pet and sics him on Daffy like a hunting hound.
  • The Looney Tunes Show turns this around by having Taz be the one acting like a dog for Bugs. Although in this case it's less a question of inbuilt behavior and more the fact that "Bugs Bunny's dog" is his cover identity so he doesn't get shipped back to the zoo.
• Martin Mystery featured a pig in one episode who wags its tail, pants, and licks Diana and Martin, all behaviors associated with dogs.
• In the Mickey Mouse short Gasp, Gubbles the fish is this to ridiculous extremes. He eats out of a bowl, is fed dog treats, and is trained to sit, roll over and bark by Mickey.
• Middlemost Post: Russell is a walrus, but behaves more like how a pet dog would.
• In the Mighty Max episode "Zygote's Rhythm" when Max's pet iguana Thor gets hit by an evolution ray he becomes a dinosaur and his behavior becomes similar to that of a dog such as licking Max with affection, panting, wagging his tail, and being lured with treats.
• In Mike, Lu & Og, Lu walks around her pet turtle Lancelot in a leash. There are even two scenes in the episode "Palm Pet" where he attempts to hike his leg near Mike's pet palm tree Petey in order to mark his territory.
• Fang the Crocodile from Miraculous Ladybug shows shades of this when he licks Cat Noir.
• Molly of Denali: In "Little Dog Lost," Anka meets an arctic fox, which acts much more like a small domestic dog than an actual fox. Foxes are canines, but they don't behave like domestic dogs in real life.
• Devil from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023). He looks frightening, but comes across as a playful puppy in the body of a dinosaur. He even licks Lunella like a dog.
• The third act of the Mr. Bogus episode "Bookstore Bogus" featured a giant bug who behaved this way in a prehistoric setting.
• In Mummies Alive! Ammut, Scarab's pet hybrid thing. Has the behavior of a dog but actually it's a crocodile-lion-hippopotamus creature (based on the mythological animal of the same name in Egyptian mythology).
• My Dad the Rock Star has Mosh, the Zilla family's Komodo Dragon that behaves like and is treated like a dog.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • The series plays with this trope. Sometimes the ponies exhibit very equine behavior (such as snorting noisily when angry or pawing at the ground), but at other times they behave more like humans, dogs or other animals (even fainting goats). Oddly, when they are poised to run, they crouch like dogs, but when they're actually running, they gallop like horses.
  • In a variant, Princess Celestia's pet bird (who also turns out to be a phoenix), Philomina, acts similarly to a parrot, right down to being smart enough to mess with Fluttershy's head. She can't talk though.
  • "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" subverts this with the scene where Pinkie Pie wakes up and scratches her ear like a dog. Although it's Played for Laughs young horses actually do this, making this Fridge Brilliance when you consider how child-minded Pinkie really is.
  • "Trade Ya" features a scene where it's played completely straight for the sake of pure cuteness. One little filly approaches Twilight Sparkle and is so excited to meet her that she starts wagging her tail◊.
  • Occasionally invoked with Yona◊, a yak who sometimes shows doglike qualities such as wagging her tail or panting.
• Chickens in Piggsburg Pigs! act like the pigs' pet dogs, probably to avoid Furry Confusion.
• The Pink Panther:
  • The camel he gets in "Pink Sphinx" behaves like a dog, panting, wagging it's tail, and fetching things.
  • His pet fish in "Salmon Pink" also acts like a dog, panting, wagging it's tail, fetching newspapers, walking it on a lease, by the end of the short it's barking and chasing cats.
• In Plan Bee, The toad barks like a dog. It is also tame after having attacked the bees, and helps to expel the evil Akif.
• PJ Masks: Greg's pet lizard Lionel acts more like a dog than an actual lizard. Most notably is that he likes to play fetch.
• Primal (2019): The series plays with this when it comes to Fang. She displays a few dog-like tendencies, like sniffing food and lying down on all fours when sleeping. However, the series reminds us that she is not Spear's pet, rather she is more akin to his partner or roommate.
• Lampshaded within Ready Jet Go!. Sunspot sometimes behaves like a dog, and people often confuse him for one.
• If ghosts count, Slimer in The Real Ghostbusters acts like a dog (especially when he begs for food with his tongue out or when he strokes the ghostbusters' legs). He became more human-like in behavior as seasons progressed.
• The Simpsons:
  • Parodied when Milhouse confuses a horseshoe crab with a dog after losing his glasses and pets it, causing the strange ancient sea creature to... cutely wag its tail.
  • In one episode, Homer and Marge try to sneak into Judge Harm's home, which turns out to be a houseboat. And instead of an Angry Guard Dog, she has a seal that behaves exactly like one.
  • On one occasion, when Santa's Little Helper isn't home, Bart tries to walk the cat but the cat refuses to move, the usual behavior for cats in this case.
  • Another episode has Homer try raising and fattening a small lobster for a full meal as a money saving method. However the lobster starts displaying this behaviour, playing with Homer and even wagging its tail before him, leading to Homer backing out of the plan and making "Pinchy" his pet (at one point, we see Pinchy from both Homer's and Marge's POVs. Homer sees him as a Ridiculously Cute Critter, while Marge sees him as a snarling and hissing monstrosity depicted in surprisingly realistic animation). This only makes it all the more heartbreaking when Homer accidentally boils him alive when trying to give him a hot bath. He still eats him, as he thinks it's what Pinchy would have wanted, but he sobs in despair throughout the entire meal.
• In Sonic Underground, Knuckles had a pet dinosaur called Chomps who acted exactly in this manner, unless his master was using him to threaten thieves off the island.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • In the SpongeBob universe, worms are the equivalent of dogs. They do things like barking and playing fetch. Snails, likewise, behave like cats.
  • "Plankton's Pet" has Plankton adopt an amoeba/water bear from the pound that behaves like a dog, including barking, fetching, and performing tricks such as rolling over or shaking.
• In one episode of Stargate Infinity, Seattle Montoya temporarily adopts a small cat-like alien. However, it acts more like a dog than a cat — it licks people's faces (mainly hers), plays "fetch", and buries its favorite toys.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Glossaryck starts acting like a dog when he gets revived from the dead. He walks on all fours, is kept on a leash, and chases after a squirrel-like animal.
• Steven Universe:
  • In "Gem Harvest", Steven casually brings a pumpkin to life, and the pumpkin (named "Pumpkin") runs around and barks like a dog. Pumpkin is adopted by Lapis and Peridot, and is seen in later episodes.
  • Steven's pet lion, Lion, also acts very much like a housecat. Justified in that these behaviors have been seen in lions kept in captivity, to the point where it's said that the only difference between big cats and small cats is size.
• Taz's pet turtle, Dog, in Taz-Mania. He's a turtle who was raised by dogs, and acts just like one. Not one part of that is treated as odd.
• One of the much newer Tom and Jerry shorts has the titular pair come across a triceratops that did such things as fetch Frisbees (the Frisbee being Jerry) doing tricks, and panting like a dog. Another has a werewolf that acts like a dog, and one has (though baited over by ice cream covering Tom) a sea lion tending to lick like one.
• Total Drama:
  • In "Can't Help Falling In Louvre", Noah, who owns a dog and knows how they tick, is able to distract Sasquatchanakwa by pretending to throw a ball for it to fetch. The normally bipedal yeti even gets down on all fours and lets its tongue hang out while keeping its eyes locked on the make-belief ball. Noah demonstrates the motion to his team later when it seems Sasquatchanakwa is coming back for them and this time the trick is also proven to work on Izzy.
  • In "Aftermath IV: Hawaiian Style", the Siberian bear Bruno fetches Blaineley, at this time a Bandage Mummy stiff as a board, out of the water as if he's a dog retrieving a stick. Once back on land, he takes his time chewing on her.
• Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race: In "My Way or Zimbabwe", MacArthur tries to tame a rhino by pretending that it's a dog.
• The Transformers: Animated short "Catch" consists of Bulkhead playing fetch with the Dinobot Grimlock, whose alt mode is a Tyrannosaurus rex.
• In Wallykazam!, Wally's dragon Norville barks and otherwise behaves like a dog in many ways.
• In the Wander over Yonder episode "The Birthday Boy", Wander is able to save himself from a charging bull-like creature by offering it dog biscuits, causing it to react like a friendly puppy.
• As seen in the Wishfart episode "Ciao, Bright Eyes", even pet monsters like manticores, cockatrices, and Ammit the Devourer are shown rolling over for belly rubs and affectionately slobbering on their owners. Dez disapproves of this behavior, seeing it as proof that keeping pets is wrong.
  Dez: This guy should be feeding on the souls of the undead, not rolling around for belly rubs.
• Honk, the little wild boar thing that follows Jack around acts like a dog in Xyber 9: New Dawn.

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