He was a hopeless alcoholic, a subpar writer, a womanizer, and all too often a pretentious jerk. But Brian, the Griffin family dog in the long-running animated series Family Guy, provided an anchor for his masters like no dog could — enduring Peter, supporting Lois, educating Chris, encouraging Meg, and raising Stewie.
Creator Seth McFarlane and the Family Guy crew put an end to all that Sunday night, when their latest episode ended in Brian’s gruesome death from being hit by a car. He was 8 — in dog years. Executive producer Steve Callaghan told E! that the writers saw getting rid of a cast member as “a fun way to shake things up.”
“It seemed more in the realm of reality that a dog would get hit by a car, than if one of the kids died,” Callaghan said. “As much as we love Brian, and as much as everyone loves their pets, we felt it would be more traumatic to lose one of the kids, rather than the family pet.”
Brian’s contributions to Family Guy lore can hardly be done justice here, but we asked TIME readers to send us their favorite moments in the life of a dog. Some were skeptical that he won’t be back soon anyway:
Maybe so, but with help from inside the newsroom and out, here are the 14 best moments in the life of Brian Griffin:
The time he couldn’t stand how Stewie pronounced Cool Whip (it even inspired a Wheat Thins commercial)
The time he cheered up Peter, the best way possible
The time we glimpsed into what life would be like if Brian were neutered
The time he noticed that other dog
The time he noticed that other other dog
The time he screamed back at a screaming baby
The time when, revved up on cocaine and his stint as a cop, he told us all about how life really is
The time he distracted his less-than-intelligent girlfriend, using nothing but a flashlight
The time he told off Meg’s greatest tormentor
The time he just sat there while Stewie mocked his ambitions as a novelist
The time he didn’t pay back Stewie — and Stewie let him have it
The time even his atheism couldn’t stop him from holding a cross if it was for a game of fetch
The time he found out he slept with Quagmire’s dad, who just had a sex change
And the time when Quagmire, who never liked Brian, crystallized for us all just what a jerk Brian could be