When you say the original The Thing, do you mean John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), or The Thing From Another World (1951) that the 1982 one was a version of?
Though I assume that your talking about the 1982 one. Bad dog, bad scary evil dog construct monster!

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)

I know things that copy others by seeing, touching, etc has been done before.
Not always to the same degree, but in some way or another it has been done.
Tho the initial form of what they start as may differ.