White Collar Inspired Dog Names

When it comes to White Collar fan favorite characters, it would seem obvious that either Neal Caffrey or Teddy “Mozzie” Winters would rise to the top due to their endless magnetism and goofy, super-genius skepticism, respectively. But surprisingly enough, if the response across the Internet during and even after the show’s tenure is any indicator, it’s actually Satchmo, the Burkes’ yellow Labrador whom El names after one of her musical idols, Louis Armstrong, who is reigning in popularity. 

Strangely enough, there has actually been more than one dog to play Satchmo. During an interview with Tiffani Theissen, just one episode before his most influential role, she goes on to detail that through the first three seasons, three different dogs were used to play him, something that will quickly become apparent to viewers upon closer inspection — he’s a bit chunkier in the first season, younger and slimmer in the second, and right in the middle in the third, the latter being played by a fun-loving lab named Jackson. 

During the show’s run, Satchmo appeared in eleven different episodes, mostly as a side character (although eleven episodes is still pretty good for a canine who isn’t a star). And yet, many of the parts he’s included in are pretty significant in the larger picture. When Neal is first introduced to Satchmo, the dog takes a liking to him, much to the frustration of Peter, who, especially early in the series, is still getting over the fact that he sees Neal like a criminal more than he does as a regular person. It is the first indicator that Neal is almost universally likable, even to those who were prior adversaries (although most of the FBI superiors still trust or like him little). 

While many of his other appearances help with the comedic value of the show, such as when Mozzie suggests to Peter and El that someone may have bugged their house (and even dog), Satchmo does end up playing a pivotal role in Season 3’s episode “Checkmate”, one of the most popular of the entire series. In the episode, Matthew Keller sends someone to kidnap Elizabeth Burke, but when Peter and Neal come home to try to find her, they instead find Satchmo who seems to have bitten the intruder, and end up using the blood on his mouth to track the kidnapper. 

Whether he played many larger parts or not, it seems that fans ended up loving Satchmo anyway, as evidenced by the fact that numerous diehard fans of the show ended up writing fan fiction centered around the loyal and loving yellow Lab.