By Andrea Verschage, ReMIND Magazine
Cats, dogs, goldfish … year to year, pets don’t really change. However, every decade does have its trends — and some of these trends include pets (animal or not). In the 1980s, iguanas, especially green iguanas, became trendy pets to own. Beautiful tropical fish were popular, as were tarantulas, but neither were all that cuddly (despite the tarantula’s fuzziness). In the latter part of the decade, ferrets weaseled their way into our hearts, and potbellied pigs began to find their place in some of our homes. None of these trendy animals, however, could beat out man’s best friend, the loyal canine. The cocker spaniel was the decade’s most popular dog, with poodles, Labrador retrievers and German shepherds not far behind. The fifth favorite breed: the golden retriever.
One of our nation’s favorite goldens in the ’80s: Brandon the Wonder Dog. This cool pup appeared in every episode of Punky Brewster, and though he sometimes caused mischief (like that time he ate part of Henry’s rare stamp collection), he was Punky’s loyal sidekick and protector. Girls all over the nation wanted their own Brandons, watching him grow from a puppy when he was first orphaned with Punky, to his marriage (yes, you read that right) at the series’ end.
For ’80s kids who couldn’t adopt real puppies, there were Pound Puppies, the stuffed plush dogs that came in cardboard doghouses, with their own adoption certificates. Cabbage Patch Kids, the fad dolls of the decade, had their own pets, too: Koosas. Kids could “adopt” these cats, dogs and lions and send in for a vinyl name sticker for their collars. (My Koosa, Patapon K., wound up with a tag that said “Pataponk,” due to my grade-school negligence to leave a space — an awkward name for a super-creepy doll.) Pet-themed toys didn’t stop there, though. Remember Strawberry Shortcake dolls? These sweet-smelling dolls came with dessert-themed animal companions: Custard the cat, Pupcake the dog, even Cheesecake the mouse and Rhubarb the monkey. Maybe they weren’t as snuggly as real pets, but they always smelled great. The fang-bearing My Pet Monster toy probably could’ve been snuggly with its blue fur, but you couldn’t get a decent hug out of it, thanks to its orange plastic handcuffs. This plush plaything, produced by American Greetings starting in 1986, inspired a straight-to-video film where a boy actually became a monster, Incredible Hulk-style.
The idea of having a beastly companion was all the rage in the 1980s. Gizmo the Mogwai (from 1984’s Gremlins) was a cute and furry creature, but not one you’d find at a conventional pet store or animal shelter. The rules for having a pet Mogwai: Don’t expose it to bright lights (or it’ll die), don’t get it wet (or it’ll spawn more creatures) and definitely don’t feed it after midnight (or all hell will break loose, in the form of evil Gremlins). According to the novelization of the film, Mogwai were creatures from a faraway alien planet. E.T. (the Extraterrestrial) was also an alien pet of sorts; Elliott and Gertie hid the creature from their mom in hopes that he could live with them, and he did for a short time. This alien endeared himself to those kids — and to the world. MAC (short for Mysterious Alien Creature), from the 1988 film Mac and Me, didn’t seem quite as adoptable as E.T., despite filmmakers’ best efforts.
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