Description

Pound Puppies were created by Mike Bowling in 1984. The first puppies were sold by Irwin Toy in Toronto, Canada. After Irwin, the line was produced by Tonka which introduced them to the U.S. market (Hornby in the UK). It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries.

The puppies were a variety of plush stuffed dog dolls with floppy ears and droopy eyes. They came in a variety of colours (grey, brown, white), some with spots. Each one came in a cardboard case shaped like a doghouse with an “adoption” certificate. The tagline was “Loveable Huggable”. Smaller versions were also created (approximately 5 inches (13 cm) long), and a line of cats called Pound Pur-r-ries was also released. Each authentic toy puppy had a heart-shaped or a bone (on the very first edition puppies) emblem near its tail that sported a “PP” logo with either a dog (Puppies) or cat (Purries) peeking above it.