In the Pokémon Red and Blue beta, Growlithe's original name was Flamie.
Growlithe can be seen as a parallel to Vulpix. Both of them are Generation I Pokémon that only evolve via a Fire Stone. Vulpix is exclusive to Pokémon Green, Blue, Blue (Ja), LeafGreen, and SoulSilver while Growlithe is exclusive to Red (Ja), Red, FireRed, and HeartGold. Growlithe has a 75% chance of being male while Vulpix has a 75% of being female, and both are in the Field Egg Group. Additionally, both can have Flash Fire as their Ability, are based on canines (Growlithe being a dog, Vulpix being a fox), and both of their shiny colorations changed to yellow in Generation III. Both are based on animals of Japanese folklore, Vulpix from the kitsune and Growlithe from the shisa.
It shares its species name with Lillipup. They are both known as the Puppy Pokémon.