Dog Walkin’ Wellington
Presidential Pets – Dogs, Cats, and…Silkworms?
By Barbara Phillippi
The election fury escalates, partisan bickering has become downright nasty, and political operatives seize on every tidbit about each candidate – gin it up, spin it, put it “out there” for the electorate to digest. But this is a dog column, what connection could there possibly be with politics and presidents?
Well, there’s been a whole bunch of publicity about the journey of candidate Mitt Romney’s dog Seamus, who accompanied the family on a 12-hour ride to a vacation destination. Seamus was strapped, in his crate, to the roof of the family station wagon, and during the travels became very sick. One of the five Romney boys noticed brown liquid flowing over the back windscreen, so Seamus and the crate were removed, hosed down at a gas station, and continued the journey on top of the car.
The Romneys insist that Seamus loved to ride this way, and became excited each time the crate was brought out for another trip, but that hasn’t stopped animal lovers, some with tongue in cheek, from creating websites and posting on FaceBook pages titled “We ride inside” and “Dogs against Romney” – (Nearly one million fans, bumper stickers, tee-shirts.) There’s even a game for the iPhone, called “Crate Escape.”
In the interest of being strictly non-partisan, there are many older dog lovers, like me, who howled in displeasure when Democratic President Lyndon Johnson crossed the line with his beagles. Johnson was an avid dog lover, and brother and sister Beagle pups named “Him” and “Her” were born during his administration. It was not uncommon for Johnson to take the dogs for walks on the White House lawn while speaking to the press. On one such occasion, in 1964, Lyndon Johnson overstepped his bounds with the dogs, and with dog lovers across the country.
Talking to a group of bankers at the time, the President lifted “Him” off the ground by his ears, and pictures of the act ran on the front pages of newspapers across the nation. Much of the American public was not amused, particularly animal rights activists, who protested the President’s behavior. Johnson was forced to defend his actions, and clearly didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. He called what he did “good for them” and claimed that he only did it to make them bark. Others thought the public’s reaction was “all bark and no bite.”
Remember “Barney,” the Scottish Terrier that George W. Bush called, “the son I never had?” Barney’s charming antics, recorded for public broadcast via “Barney cam” videos, were wildly popular with dog lovers. A dog biting someone on the finger isn’t normally newsworthy. But Barney was sometimes a very grumpy terrier, and once bit a Reuters White House correspondent who tried to pet him. The incident amused the press for days.
In his victory speech on the night of his election, President Obama repeated his promise to daughters Sasha and Malia that they would at last get a longed-for puppy to take with them to the White House. For months, dog lovers emailed the administration offering pups, and advice on which breeds were “non-allergenic,” and the public in general grumbled about what was taking so long to fulfill his promise to his children.
Other presidential pets, whose stories are worth a read, and are easily “GOOGLED” or found on “Wikipeda”; the tales are both humorous and informative.
*George Washington – created a unique breed, the American Foxhound
*Abraham Lincoln – his dog “Fido” was a mongrel, who didn’t make the trip from Illinois to Washington, yet its image became the first canine picture to hang in the White House.
*Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt – is said to have owned a veritable petting zoo of animals, including:
• Pete – Bull Terrier
• Skip – Rat Terrier
• Jack and Peter – ? Terriers
• Blackjack – Manchester Terrier
• Manchu – Pekinese
• Rollo – Saint Bernard
• Sailor Boy – Chesapeake Bay Retriever
• Tom Quartz and Slippers – Cats
• Emily Spinach – Garter snake
• Algonquin – Pony
• Maude – Pig
• Josiah – Badger
• Jonathan – Piebald rat
• Dr. Johnson, Bishop Doane, Fighting Bob Evans, Admiral Dewey, and Father O’Grady – Guinea pigs
• Baron Spreckle – Hen
• Eli Yale – Macaw
• Fidelity – Pony
*JFK’s daughter Caroline had a pony named “Macaroni,” after a reference in the song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”
*Ronald Reagan’s dog, Lucky, was portrayed in a likeness made of her own hair.
*John Quincy Adams kept silk worms and an American alligator. Go figure!
*FDR’s Fala sat beside him during his famous radio “Fireside Chats.”
Wikipedia provides a list of Presidential dogs and other pets, and their stories, and there is a family-friendly museum devoted to White House canines, The Presidential Pet Museum, in Glen Allen, Virginia. Here’s a great link to click, or copy and paste:
And check out this brief YouTube video by AARP about the museum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0d2GvRoEmXA
“In an perfect world, every home would have a dog, and every dog would have a home.”
AND one more thing: VOTE. No excuses.
Over a lifetime, Barbara Phillippi has had mostly “normal” dogs – a few German Shepherds and a bunch of wonderful “mutts,” each with its own wonderful, quirky, qualities. For many years, she taught 4-H dog obedience courses, under the authorization of Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension Services. That terrific program teaches the basics of dog behavior, of every breed, to young dog owners. Today she lives in Wellington with three Jack Russell Terriers – Woody, Gracie, and Buck. “These guys showed me a learning curve that I never knew existed!”