Top dogs: 10 literary canines

1. Boatswain In November 1808, Lord Byron's brave and courageous Newfoundland dog Boatswain died after contracting rabies. Byron, unafraid of being bitten and becoming infected, wiped away Boatswain's slaver with his own hands, nursing the dog until the disease took its toll. On his companion's death, the grieving Byron composed the lines "Epitaph to a Dog", to be carved on Boatswain's tomb at Newstead Abbey, the poet's estate: "Near this spot / are deposited the Remains of one / who possessed Beauty without Vanity, / Strength without Insolence, /Courage without Ferocity, / and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices."

2. Quinine In 1892, Anton Chekhov was given two dachshund puppies by his publisher, Nicolas Leykin. Chekhov named the male dog Bromine (Greek for "strong-smelling"), and the tan one Quinine (a drug used as a painkiller). It was Quinine – the lazy, idle, and potbellied female – who became the author's favourite. According to his sister Masha, "every evening Quinine would come up to Anton, put her front paws on his knees and look into his eyes devotedly".

3. Tulip was a loyal, loving female German Shepherd owned by JR Ackerley, author, literary editor of the Listener, and best friend of EM Forster. Ackerley was well into his 50s when he acquired Tulip, and in this ebullient animal, the distant Englishman found the friend he'd been searching for all his life. Originally, the dog belonged to the author's boyfriend, Freddie Doyle, a petty thief, who was sent to prison. Doyle's family took in the dog and Ackerley, distressed by the miserable conditions in which she was being kept, decided to rescue her. Their story is told in Ackerley's best-known book, My Dog Tulip.

4. Bull's Eye is the ill-used mutt, often assumed to be a bull terrier, belonging to Bill Sikes, the vicious thug in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. In the novel, no breed is mentioned; Bull's Eye is described as "a white shaggy dog, with his face scratched and torn in 20 places". Man and dog are bound together, both victims of a cruel upbringing, both unpredictably violent. The two brutes share more than similar- sounding names; ; … Bull's Eye has "faults of temper in common with his owner". Yet they are inseparable, and Bull's Eye, who sleeps at Sikes's feet or by his side, is always ready to obey his master.

5. Shock is the name of the lapdog belonging to Belinda, the comely and cossetted heroine of Alexander Pope's mock-epic poem "The Rape of the Lock" (1712), which, in keeping with its satirical style, presents Shock not as an individual in his own right, but as the summation of various cliches about lapdogs. It was common for love poets to regard these popular pets as little rivals, nestling gleefully on their mistress's lap or between her breasts or thighs, the fortunate recipients of sexual favours permitted to no human suitor. Could the source of this anxiety be that lapdogs make men seem unnecessary?

6. Nero was a Maltese lapdog belonging to Jane Welsh Carlyle, wife of the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle. Nero made regular appearances in Jane's letters and diary entries for 10 years, and, since she was a prolific correspondent and journal-keeper, his character and personal habits are chronicled in detail. He was particularly fond of cake, though his everyday dinner was "mostly bread and water (with one spoonful of oxtail soup for relish)". He was bathed every day, ran off from time to time, and was stolen by dognapping gangs more than once, but always made his way back home unharmed.

7. Flush "He & I are inseparable companions," wrote Elizabeth Barrett of her cocker spaniel Flush, "and I have vowed him my perpetual society in exchange for his devotion." Although Flush was a real dog, he's best known through Virginia Woolf's Flush: A Biography (1933). In this story, told from the spaniel's perspective, "A dog somehow represents – no I can't think of the word – the private side of life – the play side," wrote Woolf to a friend, which perhaps explains why Flush remains one of her most popular books.

8. Wessex was a snappy, aggressive, attention-hungry terrier owned by Thomas Hardy and his wife, Florence. Like many dogs, he liked to defend his territory, and when strangers arrived at the Hardys' home, Max Gate, he'd go for their legs, often ripping their trousers. He walked around on the dinner table during meals, helping himself to food from people's plates. Lady Cynthia Asquith described him as "the most despotic dog guests have ever suffered under". The Hardys' postman had to kick out two of the dog's teeth in self-defence.

9. Argos is the loyal hound who belonged to Odysseus, who recognises his disguised master after an absence of 20 years. In joyful anticipation, Homer tells us that "he dropped his ears and wagged his tail". But Argos, understanding that his master is in disguise, can't approach him and Odysseus can't acknowledge the dog without giving himself away. Odysseus sheds a secret tear, and Argos, after waiting so long to see his master again, dies after a single glimpse of him.

10. Toby is a friendly and intelligent dog occasionally borrowed by Sherlock Holmes from Kelso Sherman, who keeps a menagerie of creatures at 3 Pinchin Lane, Lambeth. Toby is fetched whenever Holmes and Watson need extra help sniffing out a clue. He may be "an ugly, long-haired, lop-eared creature, half spaniel and half lurcher", but Holmes defers to his expertise: "I would rather have Toby's help," he says, "than that of the whole detective force of London."

The Great Grisby: Two Thousand Years of Exceptional Dogs by Mikita Brottman is out next month from William Collins.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJqfpLi0e5FpaG1no5q9cH2SaKuoqF2ZvKi%2FjK2cp2WcnsGmvsCrsGabkaO2r7HS