The Pinkerton books are a series written and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. The series began in 1979 with Pinkerton, Behave! and continued through four more books. The stories concern the adventures and misadventures of a goofy but lovable Great Dane puppy who can't seem to stop getting into trouble.
- Pinkerton, Behave!: Pinkerton's mistress decides it's time for him to attend obedience school.
- A Rose for Pinkerton: Rose, the family's new kitten, causes trouble due to thinking herself a dog.
- Tallyho, Pinkerton!: Pinkerton's family sets off into the woods on a homework excursion, only for the plot to thicken when they encounter a hunting party looking for a red fox.
- Prehistoric Pinkerton: Pinkerton's teething causes trouble at the museum.
- A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton: When his young owner gives a presentation on penguins, Pinkerton "adopts" a football and causes all kinds of trouble as he attempts to hatch it.
This series includes examples of the following tropes:
- All Dogs Are Purebred: Pinkerton is a Great Dane, and poodles appear in A Rose for Pinkerton.
- Baby-Doll Baby: In A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton, Pinkerton grabs a football and sits with it on his feet, believing it's a penguin egg. After its owner manages to trick him into dropping it, he grieves. When he sees another football being tossed around, he snatches it, drawing all the players after him. Luckily, his owner's grandma manages to swap it out for a sewn "egg" with a baby "pinkwin" inside.
- Big Friendly Dog: Pinkerton, as a Great Dane, is big enough to knock over a grown person if he wants, but luckily he loves practically every living thing.
- Chekhov's Skill: Inverted. Pinkerton miserably fails every command his obedience class tries to teach him. He shreds a newspaper he's supposed to fetch, jumps out a window when told to come, and licks the burglar dummy he's supposed to attack. However, his owner uses "fetch" and "come" to get rid of a real burglar.
- Dinosaur Doggie Bone: One book has Pinkerton steal a dinosaur bone while at a museum because he's teething.
- Epic Fail: Aleasha and her class manage to mistake a skunk for a fox, despite even Pinkerton's school-age owner being able to see what kind of animal it really is. They regret it.
- Faint in Shock: Pinkerton accidentally scares the poodles senseless when they try to chase down Rose.
- The Grand Hunt: Aleasha Kibble, the teacher from the first book, returns in Tallyho, Pinkerton!, teaching a fox hunting class. She and her class do not get portrayed as very competent, managing to mistake two different animals for a fox and destroying a hot air balloon with their rifles.
- Imprinting: In A Rose for Pinkerton, the family's new kitten seems to think she's a dog, first eating Pinkerton's dog food and presenting her owners with a leash and then falling in line with a group of poodles at a pet show. After the poodles chase her and Pinkerton accidentally scares them, she begins acting like a cat.
- Incompetent Guard Animal: Pinkerton fails every single lesson when his owners take him to obedience school, including the one about attacking a burglar dummy. (He licks it instead.) Meeting a real burglar doesn't make him learn, but luckily the girl manages to use some of his other behavior to scare the guy off.
- Mistaken Identity: Tallyho, Pinkerton has the hunting party mistake Rose, a ginger tabby, for a fox.
- Punny Name: The obedience school teacher is called Aleasha Kibble.
- Smelly Skunk: Aleasha Kibble's hunting class corners a skunk. Unfortunately, she mistakes it for a striped fox and ignores Pinkerton's owner when she warns them, with predictable consequences.
- You Fool!: Aleasha Kibble loudly calls her foxhunting class "idiots" after they sic their hounds on a ginger tabby rather than their actual quarry.
