10 Times Gary Larson Used Dogs To Deliver A Hilarious Punchline (That Dog Owners Will Love)

The Far Side was famous for its hilarious portrayals of dogs, many of which displayed creator Gary Larson’s deep insight into the behavior of readers’ canine companions. Fans of Larson’s work know that he used dogs to achieve laughs in many different ways – but often, his panels were pups playfully appeared in ways that dog owners could instantly recognize were his most successful.

That is to say, while many of The Far Side’s dogs acted human, there were just as many memorable instances where their dog behavior was emphasized; the cartoons where Gary Larson managed to balance both of these things, naturally, rank among the most sublime entries in his ouvre.

As was the case with all Far Side cartoons, even a touch of familiarity went a long way for readers, and the immediate connection provided by a dog’s appearance in a panel was a major factor in why Larson’s canine comics were so perennially popular.

10 Sitting On The Far Side Of The Table Doesn’t Stop Mr. Sparky From Being Caught In An Embarrassing Moment

First Published: Far Side, May 4, 1994

Here is one perfect example of a panel in which Gary Larson skillfully merges his penchant for anthropomorphizing The Far Side’s animal population, and his ability to make mundane pet dog behaviors hilarious. The comic features a group of dogs in suits and ties around a conference table, as one of them points at a graph on the wall – except the business presentation is interrupted by “Mr. Sparky” licking himself at the end of the table.

The dog characters’ heads atop human-like bodies is a staple of The Far Side, but it is particularly amusing here, with the canines in business attire. What makes it even funnier is that the “business” that Mr. Sparky distracts from with his licking is, in itself, dog-related stuff such as “cat chasing,” “garden digging,‘ and “garbage dumping,” all precociously misspelled on the white board.

9 Gary Larson Leaves Readers With The Burning Question Of What This Dog Did

First Published: April 27, 1993

“His story?” a human sitting in hell’s waiting room says about the dog curled up on the floor nearby, “Well, I dunno. I always just assumed he was a bad dog.“ Gary Larson set more than one Far Side comic in hell, and this canine was far from the only dog to have somehow ended up in the underworld. However, it is the mystery of this panel that makes it so funny.

The Far Side often left readers with more questions than answers; sometimes this was an accident, as Larson explained in his breakdown of one particularly confusing comic, but just as frequently this was deliberate on the artist’s part. That seems to be the case here, as the realization of humans awaiting their eternal torment that they don’t actually know why the dog is there is the crux of the joke.

8 Gary Larson’s Twisted Spin On “Old Dogs, New Tricks”

First Published: April 23, 1993

The amusing premise of this Far Side cartoon belies the dark turn it takes at the end. It features two old dogs sitting on a porch, grumbling about the pair of young pups racing by, reflecting that “back in our day, we had to play with a half-rotted cat’s head,“ rather than the assortment of balls and chewtoys littering the front lawn.

Translating a stereotypical human behavior to dogs is a classic Gary Larson comedic maneuver, and he does it effectively here with this “back in my day” moment – except the visceral imagery conjured up by the “half-rotted cat’s head,” is a particular creative choice on his part. It is just as likely to get a shocked laugh from readers as to leave them reeling in disgust.

7 On The Far Side, Drinking From The Toilet Was No Laughing Matter

First Published: June 30, 1992​​​​​​​

The silliness of this Far Side panel relies on its mock-seriousness. Depicting a dog at a news desk, with the silhouettes of three more waiting just off-camera, this canine news program offers an expose on “dogs that drink from the toilet bowl.”

By framing this as a grave issue, one that requires a special news report, Gary Larson is sure to get a laugh from dog owners, as it reflects their own mix of bemusement and consternation at their pet’s illicit activity. Obscuring the toilet bowl drinkers in shadow is particularly great touch, as it emphasizes that this is considered a shameful act; any dog owner who has caught their canine slinking away from the bathroom with a guilty look on their face will find something to appreciate about this Far Side dog comic.

6 According To Gary Larson, Not All Dogs Go To College

First Published: June 17, 1992

Rather than the SATs, these Far Side dogs are shown taking their CATs, in order to gain “their admission to any canine university,” as one dog named Rex is shown working on a math problem that involves a rottweiler chasing a Siamese cat.

Once more, this is an example of a Far Side comic in which Gary Larson finds a pitch-perfect middle ground between anthropomorphism and animal humor; these dogs are depicted sitting at desks, and using pencils like human beings, but their concerns are thoroughly dog-like. In this way, Larson constructs an almost-immersive world that blends the animal and human worlds, in a way that can be considered a precursor to a show like Bojack Horseman, which later did the same thing incredibly successfully in its own way.

5 Gary Larson Dabbles In Canine Sociology With This Far Side Dog Cartoon

First Published: December 13, 1991​​​​​​​

Here, Gary Larson once more combines something human – in this case, clothing, specifically hats – with dog behavior, except in this case, the scales are much more tilted toward the latter. This is intentional, as the imposition of hats on these dogs heads is meant to be incongruous with their otherwise fully-dog-like depiction.

Captioned “if pets wore hats: a study in animal personalities and styles,” this panel also includes cats in fedoras and a bird in a sombrero, but the focus is on the baseball-cap clad canines, with their choice of headgear reflecting their focus on the simple pleasures, like chasing felines up trees. In addition to Larson’s love of animals, The Far Side reflected his fascination with subjects like sociology, which is also evident here, as applied to the world of domesticated pets.

4 The Toughest Seeing-Eye-Dog Training Program On The Far Side

First Published: August 8, 1990

This stands out as one of the best Far Side panels in which Gary Larson used dogs to achieve a laugh-out-loud joke. Set at “Anderson’s School For Seeing-Eye-Dogs,” the panel depicts one of the trainees leading a mannequin on roller skates up a ramp toward an airplane turbine, as the trainers remark:

Well, scratch number 24. He did good though – right up to the jet engine test.

As absurd as this might be, Larson does a fantastic job here of offering immersive details that will stick with readers, even long after they have read this Far Side cartoon. The premise of the “jet engine test,” is in itself ridiculously funny, but the true peak of this punchline is the mock-human on skates, and the way the real humans are drawn reacting to this disappointing outcome for “number 24.”

3 This Far Side Canine Gets A Taste Of His Species’ Own Medicine

First Published: August 31, 1988​​​​​​​

Many dog owners will be overly familiar with the experience of sitting down to eat and feeling the eyes of their dog boring into them, hoping to be given just a single scrap of people food – though even if they get it, one is never enough to stop the staring.

Turnabout is fair play in this Far Side comic, as a group of four humans stand rigidly still, eyes glued to a dog as he chows down on the contents of his bowl, uncomfortable thinking “man, I wish they wouldn’t do that while I was eating,“ in exactly the same way legions of pet parents have since time immemorial. As he so often did, Gary Larson captures the feeling of being a pet owner, and a pet, in this one highly amusing cartoon.

2 Gary Larson’s Depiction Of Dogs On A Stakeout Speaks For Itself

First Published: January 10, 1988

Gary Larson was very particular about the details of The Far Side, in regard to both its illustrations and its captions. That means when a Far Side comic omitted its caption, the visual was intended to say everything Larson wanted to – and this panel, featuring dogs in a surveillance van spying on an indoor cat, is a great example.

Again, the detail work here is essential; while the punchline should be evident to most readers easily enough, even without a caption to provide further context, what makes this an especially hilarious Far Side comic are the details like the clipboard in one dog’s hand, and a coffee mug in another’s, and the headphones they are all wearing, as they –and, of course, the unsuspecting expression on the feline’s face.

1 While The Dogs Away, The Human Will…Worry?

First Published: November 25, 1987

This split-image Far Side panel hilarious upends the canine-human dynamic, as the top half of the image depicts a concerned man reading a note from his dog, demanding that he “STAY,” as his dog and another, named Rex, “took the kar to town,” with the bottom of the panel showing the carefree canine pair on their joyride.

The Far Side had its pair of bad pet owners, and bad pets, and this is a very funny example of the latter; as amusing as it is, though, it also carries a hint of subtextual tension, as anyone who has had their dog escape and run free will feel a twinge of secondhand concern, even from this obviously absurd joke. In that way, it is without question one of Gary Larson’s greatest Far Side dog comics.