The Office Dog Names

Many dogs that star in movies and television often make many appearances throughout their lifetime. Dogs like Rin Tin Tin and Air Buddy actually spent most of their lives gracing the glow of the silver screen thanks in no small part to the lengthy lifespan of their respective breeds. But there is one dog that stood in contrast to his breed’s expected lifetime, which stands as one of the shortest of any breed, and in the process, brought nationwide attention to a breed that was, at the time, only truly popular in parts of Western Europe, all with only one film credit: Beasley. 

While his name might not sound familiar, anyone born around the 1980s probably best remembers him as the charming and equally disgusting star who played opposite Tom Hanks in the film Turner and Hooch. 

Historically, the average Dogue de Bordeaux lives only five to eight years at best, ranking in the top ten of dogs with the shortest lifespans, topped only by the Irish Wolfhound and Bernese Mountain Dog, who average only about seven years. And it’s not necessarily an uncommon pattern either, as dogs of similar breeds and sizes rarely stretch into double digits. But surprisingly enough, against the odds, Beasley lived to the ripe old age of 14, nearly twice the average. Even more surprising? He took his one and only acting part at the age of ten, well past his expected lifespan. 

But outside of living far past expectations, Beasley did something few other dogs have been able to do throughout history: he significantly increased the popularity of the breed in an era when their numbers were in a considerable decline. In fact, the breed was relatively unknown in American until the early 1980s, when purebred enthusiasts were first introduced to it in Dog World magazine. When the article was first published, there wasn’t a single Dogue de Bordeaux known to be in the United States and only around 600 were known to be in existence worldwide, most of them concentrated in Western Europe. 

Although it took nearly 20 years after Turner and Hooch first hit the big screen for the breed to gain full recognition in the United States, breed clubs began to spring up shortly after, helping to foster the newfound interest in the giant dogs and helping them regain a foothold by shifting their numbers back into a steady rise. Even with Beasley’s representation in the film as a troublemaking and hard-to-tame slobber-monster, his undoubtedly lovable appearance and charming personality may have saved the Molossoid type breed from what seemed like inevitable rarity, if not potential extinction.