Emmerdale’s famous pooches and what happened to them over the years

Many a paw has made an appearance on the hit ITV soap Emmerdale since it first aired in 1972.

Monty the wolfhound, Zak Dingle’s dog, is a fan favourite on the farm – but there have been many canine co-stars before him.

From Edna Birch’s beloved fur babies, to dogs saved from abuse, the writers have always known how to tug on our heartstrings when it comes to four-legged characters.

And an alarming number of the former pooches on the show have been run over by characters – not once, but twice!

But one of the saddest moments was when Smokey was killed in a huge 40th anniversary storyline.

These are some of the dogs of the Dales over the last 50 five decades.

Alfie

The Dingle family dog, Alfie, was a member of the Emmerdale cast for 11 years up until 2017.

The acting dog, whose real name is also Alfie, was owned by Lynda Woodrow, and retired at her request in the show’s 8007th episode.

Alfie certainly had an emotional character development, starting when the pooch was poisoned in 2010 after chemicals seeped into the land.

Later that year, the pooch dug up Mark Wylde’s decomposing body in Home Farm Woods when Sam Dingle was taking him for a walk.

Seven years later, Zak Dingle ran over the dog while fleeing from angry vegan customers – an ordeal he luckily survived after an operation.

But six months on, Paddy Kirk diagnosed the dog with liver cancer, and the family made the tough decision to put him to sleep.

Batley

Batley made her first appearance on the show on December 20, 2000, and spent two years working on the ITV soap.

The dog belonged to Edna Birch, but had to be put to sleep after Edna’s granddaughter, Eve Jenson, kicked her.

Paddy Kirk revealed the Yorkshire Terrier – portrayed by Bracken – had suffered a sharp blow to the stomach, prompting Eve to admit what she’d done.

Batley’s final scene featured her placing a paw on Edna’s arm as the vet administers a fatal injection, which won the award for Best Exit at the 2002 British Soap Awards.

Despite having departed the Yorkshire village 15 years earlier, the dog was brought up in an episode in 2017, where Faith Dingle was ‘connecting with the spirits’, and accidentally called the deceased dog ‘Flatley’.

Ben

Ben had a tough start in Emmerdale as Harry Mowlam’s dog, where he was abused and mistreated until December 1983.

Matt Skilbeck did some business with Harry, where his dog could be seen running around the dangerous quarry, and Matt confiscated the dog.

Harry threatened to take Matt to court, and even dumped rubble in the front yard of Emmerdale Farm before Sergeant Ian MacArthur convinced him to let Matt keep Ben by turning a blind eye to Mowlam’s dodgy deals.

Bess

Bess was owned by Annie Sugden and Sam Pearson back in the 70s when the show first began.

The dog went missing in 1973 but was soon found, with Sam making her a new kennel.

Bundle

Labrador Bundle was Caroline Bate’s dog, who was shot dead in 1984 by Jackie Merrick.

The pooch had been bothering sheep causing some to lose their lambs, and the second time he was caught doing so, Jackie shot her in front of the school children.

A horrified Caroline was determined to make Jackie pay, with her and husband Malcolm Bates even taking civil action.

Cheryl

Cheryl – named after Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole – was a Christmas present for Val Pollard from husband Eric in 2012.

The dog, played by Indy, resides at Pollard’s Barn with Eric, following Val’s death.

In February 2013, the dog went missing during a walk with Jacob Gallagher, but David Metcalfe saved the day when she was found.

After Val’s death, Eric asked Paddy Kirk to put the Labrador to sleep, but David and Leyla Harding took turns looking after the dog.

David gave Eric a box of ‘ashes’ which was really just wood ash, but the dog escaped the house in December 2015, and went to live back with Eric after he came to his senses.

Clyde

Discovered tied up and starving at Mr Merryhew’s farm in April 2009, Aaron Livesy and Paddy Kirk took the dog in after the elderly farmer asked the vet to put the dog down.

Aaron decided to keep the dog, much to Chas Dingle’s initial displeasure. The dog got himself into some trouble when he attacked Edna Birch’s dog Tootsie, which resulted in him having to wear a muzzle.

In September 2010, Clyde was attacked by a bigger dog and lost a lot of blood. Paddy revealed it would be the kindest thing to do to put the pup to sleep, with his rescuers by his side.

Daisy

Marlon Dingle’s dog Daisy was adopted after being abandoned in December 2003, and was a gift for Tricia before her 2004 death.

Ashley Thomas accidentally ran over the dog in 2012, but Paddy Kirk was able to save the pooch.

But Daisy wasn’t so lucky the second time she was hit by a car three years later, this time by Marlon’s third wife, Laurel.

The drunk driver attempted to bury the body, but was caught by Marlon and Cain Dingle with the dead dog.

Damon

Damon the dog came to an unfortunate end at the hands of Cain Dingle.

The bullmastiff was the treasured hound of Sadie King, and died after Sadie rejected Cain’s advances, despite having previously slept together.

He killed the pup in revenge back in May 2005.

Dog

Dog appeared in the show from 2014 to 2017, and belonged to Lachlan White.

Lawrence White sold the dog when the family was due to move to Australia in January 2018.

Awaking from her coma, Rebecca White remembered that that Dog had been sold.

Smokey

Smokey lived with Seth Armstrong at Demdyke Row in the early 90s, but he was killed in a plane crash on December 30, 1993.

That night, Elizabeth Pollard looked after Smoke for Seth whilst he was in The Woolpack. But then, following a row with her husband, Elizabeth stormed from the house and left the pooch inside.

A plane crashed on the village, destroying most of Seth’s street, with the dog losing his life in the accident which marked the show’s 40th anniversary.

Snip

Another Emmerdale canine killed by a car was Snip – Matt Skilbeck’s sheepdog.

They first arrived on the dales in January 1980, but died 16 months later when he was killed by a speeding car.

The driver turned out to be the man who burgled Emmerdale Farm earlier that month.

Tip

Frank Clayton discovered Tip as a stray in November 2017, before she was rehomed with Jai after discovering Megan Macey was allergic to dogs.

The pooch – played by Villassa Cherry Ripple – was accidentally run over by Andrea Tate in January 2020, who buried his body in the woods.

Tootsie

Another of Edna Birch’s dogs, Tootsie first appeared in the ITV soap in 2002 when her former owner passed away, and she was taken to Paddy Kirk.

Edna adopted the pup after having lost Batley earlier that year.

The original acting dog Sky died in 2008, and was replaced by another dog called Dusty.

The dog gave birth to a litter of puppies in 2007, but five years later, was diagnosed with spleen cancer.

Tootsie underwent several rounds of chemotherapy in 2013, but faced an uncertain future when Edna passed away from cancer herself, in 2016.

She went on to live with Harriet Finch at Woodbine Cottage.

Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/emmerdales-famous-pooches-what-happened-24526057