New York City Dog Names

New York dogs are easy to find in pop culture. We will start first with dogs that became known in movies. Oliver and Company, for example, is a film about a homeless kitten who becomes a member of a gang of dogs in order to survive living on the streets. The inspiration for the film is the classic by Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, with the setting relocated from London to New York. Once the other kittens with Oliver are adopted, Oliver, the kitten, is left abandoned on Fifth Avenue. Oliver attempts to find someone to adopt him and meets Dodger, a laid-back pooch who helps him steal food from a hot dog vendor.  Dodger takes the food with him without leaving any for Oliver, who follows him to the barge of his owner and comes across his friends, who include Tito, a Chihuahua, Einstein, a Great Dane, Rita, an Afghan Hound and Francis a Bulldog. The dogs discover Oliver and ultimately accept him. The owner of the dogs, named Fagin, is a pickpocket who owes a lot of money and is running out of time to pay it. He accepts Oliver and sends him out with the other dogs to try and sell cheap goods or steal money. Through these efforts, Oliver and his new friends meet Jenny, a lonely little girl who befriends them all.

Another dog seen in New York is Sandy, in the 1982 musical film Annie. The film was adapted from the Broadway musical, which was based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. The story is set during the Great Depression and focuses on Annie, a New York City orphan that is taken in by the country’s richest billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. During the movie, Annie adopts a stray dog that she names Sandy, who comes to live with her when she goes to the home of Mr. Warbucks. Sandy has a lot of shaggy fur and becomes a constant companion for Annie.

Outside of the movies, a young dog is making history in the state of New York. After undergoing training, Kiah, a Pit Bull, is the first of her breed to join the K9 unit in the state of New York. She is a member of the K9 unit at the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, where she is partnered with Officer Justin Bruzgul. Kiah works as a narcotics and missing person detection dog. In addition, Kiah won the ASPCA Public Service Award.