Study Reveals the Most Popular Fictional Dogs in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois
I think you would agree with me when I say that a lot of our most beloved fictional characters are dogs. You could probably name five of your favorites (they are most likely animated) right now without any trouble at all. Think about it - we could be watching the most violent action movie ever, and we'd be okay with dozens of people getting killed on screen, but don't you dare hurt a dog, that's where we draw the line.
For the record, some of my favorites are Ren Höek from Ren & Stimpy, Brian Griffin from Family Guy, Scooby-Doo, and Snoopy. You gotta love Spike from Tom & Jerry and Dug from Up too.
When was the last time you Googled a fictional dog? I did while writing this article, but before that, I couldn't tell you. I don't know if that's something people do regularly, but sure enough, somebody (a website called Pawlicy Advisor) did a study of trending fictional dogs in every state, based on Google searches from August 2021-August 2022.
The results were pretty surprising, I guess, only because I can't imagine why anyone, let alone a large number of people, would ever Google some of the dogs on the list. For example, the top trending dog in Idaho is The Tramp from the 1955 movie Lady and the Tramp. Who is Googling that? I realize there was a live-action version released in 2019, but these results are from two years later. Another one that totally caught me off-guard was the top trending dog in Montana - McGruff the Crime Dog. I mean, let's keep it real, when was the last time you Googled McGruff the Crime Dog?
Results for the Tri-State
You can see the results for the entire country on the nifty little map below, but first, let's take a look at the results for the Tri-State.
Indiana: Clifford the Big Red Dog. Clifford is actually the top trending dog in the U.S., landing in the top spot for 10 states.
Kentucky: Courage the Cowardly Dog. Courage was #1 in two other states.
Illinois: Sam Sheepdog. Without looking him up, do you know who this dog is? You'll recognize him when you see him, but I sure didn't know that was his name. Sam was also #1 in Massachusetts.