Rugby Inspired Dog Names

Since the birth of the Internet, we’ve been blessed with numerous canine celebrities, largely thanks to the viral and nearly universal accessibility that has gone from funny dog videos to Instagram influencers. Characters like Tuna, the meme-worthy, funny-faced dog, Boo, the cutest dog on the planet, and Brussels, the dog (alongside George Lucas’s Ewoks) who put Griffons on a more universal map, have gone from simple best friends to beloved by thousands all thanks to goofy personalities and adorable looks. But most of them remain celebrities in the United States. 

But the rest of the world has their dog celebrities too, including Australia, parts of which have rallied behind one celebrity dog that took the country by storm years ago. Tuppy, a hyper-intelligent Border Collie, is well-known for numerous reasons, many of which have to do with the series of comedic videos his owner has put together over the years. But his celebrity can’t all be attributed to that either. Like many of his Border Collie kin, Tuppy is not only exceptionally smart, but incredibly athletic, and has the ability to combine his skills with significant ease. 

But Tuppy wasn’t the first of his kin in his family either. Owners Joanne and Col Bettiens previously owned another Border Collie named Tyson. In fact, they actually selected Tuppy as a puppy because of his strong resemblance to his predecessor in the family and was thus named because he looked like “A Tyson puppy” — the two names combined to form Tuppy. 

But the family also soon realized Tuppy’s incredible potential. Not only did he learn quickly, but had significant tolerance and excitement for trying new things, many of which entailed donning new costumes for Internet videos, acting as a so-called “superdog”, and learning new tricks in the process. He even starred in a video “playing rugby” with the local team (the clips of him playing are interspersed with actual crowd and player footage to make it look real), known as the Newton Jets, his owners’ favorite team — thus also coining him an eternal Rugby Dog to boot, and one of the only publicly known for it. In turn, Joanne has taken over the role as his human agent, helping to book appearances and using his celebrity — as any hero should — for good, including acting as a supporter for the ATAAC, Australian Teens Against Animal Cruelty, alongside his owner, who also works for other non-profits in Australia.