Bart Simpson’s dog is one of the most iconic pets in TV history. The bony brown mutt, Santa’s Little Helper, has been on our screens since The Simpson’s very first episode back in 1989. With the cartoon soon commencing its 36th season, this tail-waggler is still stealing the show with his very own episodes and hilarious cameos.
But what breed of dog actually is Santa’s Little Helper? Scroll down to find out!
Santa’s Little Helper: The Possible Breeds
The skinny and scrawny Simpsons dog has been marked as a greyhound, a whippet, a sloughi and a lurcher dog. To find out his real breed, all we need to do is look back to the very first episode of The Simpsons, where Homer and Bart impulsively adopt Santa’s Little Helper from the dog races.
How the Simpsons Adopted Santa’s Little Helper
First aired on December 17, 1989, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” sees the family in a conundrum, with no money left to spend on Christmas presents after Bart gets his illegal ‘Mother’ tattoo laser-removed. Homer digs out some scraps of money to buy some lame presents after missing out on his work bonus, trains as a shopping centre Santa to afford some better presents, then cuts his losses by gambling his measly Santa paycheck at the dog racing. The dog he bets on is Santa’s Little Helper, $13 at 99/1 in a desperate attempt to save Christmas.
The dog loses dramatically, and after scouring the parking lot floor for a winning ticket, Bart and Homer witness Santa’s Little Helper’s angry owner kick him aside for coming in last place. The dog runs straight towards the Simpsons, jumps into Homer’s arms and, after Bart asks if they can keep the dog, Homer wholesomely replies, “But he’s a loser, he’s pathetic, he’s… a Simpson.” The rest is TV history.
Santa’s Little Helper is a Greyhound
There are many breeds of racing hound that are bred for dog racing, but of all the dog-racing sports, Greyhound racing has always taken the crown. Reaching top speeds of 45mph, greyhounds are the fastest dog on Earth, and can put on one hell of a show. Since Santa’s Little Helper was abandoned at the dog races, and looks exactly like the breed in question, we can safely assume he’s a greyhound. But what other signs point to this?
Affectionate Family Dogs
Greyhounds make great family dogs as they’re affectionate, calm and gentle, unless they’ve been driven to a desperate state of boredom. Santa’s Little Helper shows all of these traits, being a happy-go-lucky canine who loves curling up on the carpet with the Simpson kids, following Bart on some of his adventures and clearly having a decent bond with the family as a whole (barring one episode which we’ll get to later).
Greyhounds are great with children and can get along well with other animals, such as Lisa Simpson’s cat, Snowball II, so long as that other animal doesn’t trigger the greyhound’s hunting instinct.
Even better, they’re non-aggressive and usually have aquiet demeanour, making them great for family homes like The Simpsons’. But while being low-maintenance dogs in terms of grooming, this racing breed has tons of energy to expel daily. If not exercised regularly, this breed can get destructive towards your possessions in the face of boredom, chewing and scratching just like Santa’s Little Helper in countless Simpsons episodes.
Greyhounds: Independent, ‘Untrainable’ Hunting Dogs
One of the biggest clues to Santa’s Little Helper’s true breed can be found in his independent nature.
The name ‘greyhound’ is said to derive from the Old English, ‘grei hundr’ or ‘dog hunter,’ and it’s not hard to figure out why. With super-streamlined and agile bodies, this breed is built for speed running; perfect for hunting and catching lightning-fast prey such as deer, foxes and rabbits.
But, unusually to hunting dogs, or most dogs for that matter, greyhounds are classed as “sight hounds” or “coursing dogs”, uninterested in pursuing scent, but hunting based purely on sight. This is what makes them perfect for the cruel act of dog racing and greyhound running — these dogs don’t need to chase a live animal, just a fast-moving cardboard cut out of a rabbit that races along the track.
As coursing, hunting dogs, greyhounds are naturally more independent and stubborn than some other breeds, meaning training a greyhound can sometimes be difficult. The Simpson family knows this all too well — the show writers even included an episode where Homer threatens to abandon Santa’s Little Helper unless he completes obedience training, in the Season 2 episode “Bart’s Dog Gets an F.” Santa’s Little Helper only just scrapes a Pass by the skin of his teeth.
Athletic Bodies
Greyhounds and whippets share a similar athletic body type — deep-chested, narrow-waisted and with a few ribs visible, these dogs are both built for speed. Greyhounds are slightly larger than whippets however, and measuring Santa’s Little Helper up against Bart and Lisa, it's safe to assume the atheletic Simpson dog is a greyhound.
Intelligence
At first glance, Santa’s Little Helper might not seem like the most intelligent boy. Greyhounds rank fairly averagely in intelligence, though some studies conclude they are actually above average.
Santa’s Little Helper ticks both these boxes, acting quite stupidly in some episodes while saving the day in others. He joined the Springfield Police Department, became the mascot for Duff Beer, and even transformed into a fully-trained attack dog under the ownership of Mr Burns.
Even if a greyhound’s intelligence is put down to nothing but instinct, Santa’s Little Helper scores exceptionally high at times, despite being a lousy dog at others, making him a true greyhound.
Which Voice Actor voices Santa’s Little Helper?
Since 1995, Santa’s Little Helper has been voiced by Dan Castellaneta, the guy who voices Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown and Groundskeeper Willie amongst many more iconic Simpsons characters. But for the first six years of the show, the mutt was voiced by the legendary voice actor Frank Welker, who also voiced the Simpson’s cat, Snowball II, as well as the world-famous great dane Scooby Doo and his co-owner Fred Jones.
Santa’s Little Helper & Greyhound Adoption
Not only does Santa’s Little Helper look like a greyhound, he pretty much meets every trait and trope of the breed spot-on. While making families laugh for three and a half decades, Santa’s Little Helper has been giving a wholesome glimpse into the ups and downs of adopting a dog raised under cruel conditions, inspiring viewers to rescue their own retired greyhounds as the sport slowly gets banned from the US.
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