Here we are panting through the dog days of summer - and the Grim Reaper is really in the doghouse with us. With the passing of Taco Bell's former Chihuahua mascot, Gidget, it seems that with any canine celebrity, be they great (Dane) or miniature (Schnauzer), there just are no bones about it when the time comes to head to that big fire hydrant in the sky.

In honor of our favorite four-legged friends that have kibbled and bit the dust, we're taking a look back at five of the most celebrated canines that have dearly departed from the small screen.

1. Tiger (Brady Bunch)

Compared to the Brady's cat Fluffy (who was never seen after the first episode), Tiger's season-and-a-half lifespan makes him seem like the animal version of Abe Vigoda. Oddly, Tiger vanished around the same time that the Partridge Family's pooch, Simone (can we get the guys from Adam-12 on this case?), so Mike and Carol might have kept mum about the whole ordeal in order to spare their sixsome's feelings. However, we suspect the mixed-breed's mischievous mix-ups -- culminating with the doll-napping of Kitty Karry-All -- might have finally sent sweet little Cindy over the edge.

2. Rowdy the Stuffed Dog (Scrubs)

Talk about dead on arrival - this poached pooch perished long before Turk & J.D. found him at a yard sale. With Rowdy's cause of death unknown, it's hard to diagnose exactly what this mounted mongrel was like alive - although the boys seem to think he was quite excitable but very vicious. Though after death, he has served as a coat rack, a foot stool, a guard dog, an object for pranking others, and a comforting companion - proving once and for all, you may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but with a dead one, you sure can.

3. Buck/Lucky (Married…With Children)

The Bundy's boorish Briard had the dog's life chasing cats, watching TV, and mercilessly mocking his mindless masters. When he arrived in the animal afterlife, his wicked ways (having once impregnating all of the females dogs in the neighborhood) put him in the doghouse with the heavenly host. Still, death may not have been so bad -- reincarnated as Lucky, the Bundy's new gay cocker spaniel, Buck learned (at the expense of his leather-clad Bulldog boyfriend) that sometimes life can be a bitch.

4. Neil (Topper)

This sauced St. Bernard is the poster pup for not drinking while on the job -- having perished in an avalanche trying to rescue his owners, George and Marion Kirby. When the Kirbys return to playfully haunt bank vice-president Cosmo Topper, Neil comes along too, putting the "spirits" in the spirit world. Perhaps it's all for the best, as his hair of the dog drinking habits most likely would have ended with a case of canine cirrhosis.

5. Vincent (LOST)

The fifth season of LOST proved that while dead may be dead, nothing is as quite as it seems - hence the inclusion of Vincent on this list. From the moment he set paw in that jungle, Vincent seems to have adopted the dogmas of the island - leading many to speculate he is yet another form of the Smoke Monster. This old dog not only has learned some new tricks (communicating with spirits, fending off polar bears, and dealing with time travel) but with a confirmation from the producers that Vincent will survive through season six, we think this dog's day is still yet to come.

Think we're barking up the wrong tree and forgot your favorite? Throw us a bone and leave a comment!

Cason Murphy started in the entertainment business at the age of three when he "picked a rabbit out of his hat" during a tap recital - and hasn't had the good sense to get out yet. When he's not selling his soul to academia at UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television, he is making good use of his DVR.