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| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Wiener Dog Art | $8.79 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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The Far Side® Gallery | $12.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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The Complete Far Side | $101.02 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Beyond The Far Side® | $7.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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The Far Side® Gallery 2 | $10.08 | Buy on Amazon |
There is no official Gary Larson or FarWorks ranking of the funniest dog cartoons. The list below is an editorial selection, built from identifiable Far Side panels and the strongest available publication records. The first five are the most defensible top tier; several later entries use descriptive labels rather than confirmed official titles.
The 20 funniest dog comics, ranked
Larson’s dog jokes work because they treat familiar canine behavior—barking, chasing, eating, begging and destroying things—as if it were part of a larger human institution. Dates are included only where a reliable record confirms them.
#1 Best Overall
1. “What We Say to Dogs” (October 25, 1983)
A person angrily lectures Ginger after a garbage raid. In the companion panel, the dog hears almost nothing but “blah blah,” with her name cutting through the noise. It is Larson’s cleanest joke about the gap between human language and canine attention. The official listing is on The Far Side shop.
2. “Dog Going to Get Tutored” (May 25, 1985)
A dog proudly announces that he is going to the vet “to get tutored,” misunderstanding the neutering appointment. The malapropism is funny, but the darker punch comes from the dog’s complete confidence. The official art listing gives the title and date at GoComics Store.
3. “Nervous Little Dogs” (August 5, 1991)
While their owners sleep, tiny dogs quietly prepare coffee, including a dachshund making espresso. The secret domestic routine and the dogs’ anxious expressions create a superb wordless escalation. The official shop record is at GoComics Store.
4. “Dog Translator”
A scientist unveils a machine that translates barking, only to discover that the dogs are saying variations of “Hey!” to one another. The supposed breakthrough reduces high technology to the same casual greeting heard in any dog park. “Dog Translator” is a descriptive label used by secondary sources, not a confirmed official title.
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5. “Dog Hell” (June 8, 1986)
In Larson’s canine afterlife, dogs are condemned to deliver mail and clean up dog waste—the two jobs that most perfectly reverse their traditional behavior. The cartoon also drew reader complaints, a reaction discussed in Lambiek’s Gary Larson profile.
6. “Dog Threats”
A dog leaves a threatening note for a cat, but the written message is still barking gibberish. Larson treats a dog’s inability to produce human words as an advantage: the threat is unmistakably hostile while remaining impossible to translate. This is a secondary-source identification, not a confirmed official title.
7. “Moods of an Irish Setter”
Several Irish setters are labeled with different moods, yet every face has the same vacant, pleasant expression. The joke targets the breed’s famously uniform look. The title is a descriptive identification, and an original publication date has not been securely confirmed.
8. “Hey Bucko”
A dog points a pistol at humans while apparently demanding food. A pet’s ordinary appetite is recast as an armed hold-up, reversing the household power dynamic in one instantly readable image. “Hey Bucko” is the commonly cited caption or phrase, not a verified official title.
Rank #3
9. “Santa and the Guard Dog”
Santa’s foot protrudes from a chimney while a guard dog waits below. The wordless panel lets posture do all the work: the dog appears ready to treat Christmas Eve as a burglary. The descriptive title and publication date remain unconfirmed.
10. “Cat Killer?” (September 28, 1985)
A dog is on trial before a jury made entirely of cats. The legal setting promises impartial procedure, while the jury’s species makes the conflict of interest obvious. The date is reported in the published shortlist summarized by Head Topics.
11. “He Bit the Godfather” (February 13, 1980)
Mobsters prepare to throw a cement-shoed dog into a river. The caption, “He bit the godfather,” converts a familiar Mafia execution into an absurdly specific canine offense. The reported publication date is February 13, 1980.
12. “Another Flat!” (March 27, 1980)
A sled driver discovers that one sled dog has gone flat like a punctured tire. The other dogs’ contrasting reactions sell the visual impossibility and make the team look like a roadside assistance crew. The reported date is March 27, 1980.
Rank #4
13. “Keep Your Eye on That Guy” (May 14, 1980)
Two butchers watch a silent customer in a trench coat, suspecting him of stealing meat. The suspicious customer is a dog, so their paranoia is both ridiculous and entirely justified. The reported date is May 14, 1980.
14. “Blow Up the House”
A dog stands over a dynamite plunger while its owner reacts to a demolished home. Normal canine destruction—chewed furniture, dug-up yards, broken objects—is inflated into deliberate structural sabotage. The title comes from a secondary identification rather than a confirmed official caption.
15. Dogs in School
A teacher asks a classroom of dogs whether anyone failed to eat his or her homework. Larson reverses the familiar human excuse “the dog ate my homework”: here, the dogs are the students and the excuse has become self-incrimination. The panel is documented as a Far Side cartoon, but its original date is not confirmed in the available records; the phrase’s background is discussed at Wikipedia.
16. “Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours” (August 18, 1987)
A dog testifies that he and the defendant had a mutually beneficial arrangement: “You scratch me behind the ears, I’ll scratch you behind yours.” The courtroom language turns a petting ritual into formal quid pro quo. The reported date is August 18, 1987.
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- Author: Larson, Gary.
- Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
- Pages: 192
- Publication Date: 2003
- Edition: Illustrated
17. “Old Dog, New Trick” (June 3, 1992)
The official shop lists this title and date, but the surviving record available here does not establish the panel’s exact visual gag. It belongs on a verified list by title and date, while any detailed description should be checked against the image before reproduction. See The Far Side shop.
18. “Wiener Dog Art”
A dachshund is used like a paint stamp to make artwork, turning a long-bodied dog into an improbable studio tool. The image is associated with Larson’s 1990 collection Wiener Dog Art: A Far Side Collection. The collection and image identification are established, but a newspaper publication date is not.
19. The dog-and-cat “Put the Cat Out” gag
A dog communicates with another dog outside a window while a cat occupies the bed or house, implying a request to remove the feline intruder. It is a representative example of Larson’s recurring dog-versus-cat rivalry, but the accessible record does not establish an official title, date or syndication entry.
20. A final place for the most uncertain entry
Because no official source ranks these cartoons, the last position is intentionally reserved for the least securely documented panel above rather than pretending that a fan description is archival fact. Readers seeking a definitive image list should verify every scan against published Larson collections or the official archive.
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- Start with The Far Side’s official shop for titles and original publication dates where listed.
- Use published Larson collections or a verifiable newspaper archive for panels whose titles are descriptive rather than official.
- Be skeptical of reposts: unofficial edits, lookalike cartoons and mislabeled dog images circulate widely.
- Remember that The Far Side debuted in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 1, 1980; claims that the strip officially began in 1979 confuse promotional material with the debut, as explained by the Houston Chronicle.
Can you reproduce the panels?
No. FarWorks, Inc. administers the copyright, and its official contact page says reprint permissions for books, websites, blogs, articles and presentations are currently on hiatus. Obtain written permission before publishing any cartoon image.
Quick Recap
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