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George H.W. Bush through Donald Trump
The present day presidential dogs belonged to presidents that have seen their share of eventful days in America. During these years, the country witnessed the World Wide Web made public domain; the end of the Cold War; the beginning and end of the Gulf War; the Dow Jones hitting an all-time high; Y2K coming and going without incident; the fall of the Twin Towers; the advent of social media; a Recession; hurricanes, tornados, storm flooding and wildfires causing mass devastation across America; the first image of a black hole and the rebirth of America’s space program. Both good and bad, the dogs of four of these presidents saw it all.
As mentioned in a previous blog, out of forty-five presidents, only twelve did not own a dog and only two presidents had no pet at all. Eleven of the presidents without a dog took office before 1900. The most recent president, without any pet at all, Donald Trump (2017 – ), holds the presidency now. The other presidents of this time period only had four breeds and eight dogs between them; the English Springer Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Scottish Terrier and Portuguese Water Dog.
More intriguing facts about present day presidential dogs…
- The award for the “most” dogs goes to George W. Bush and First Lady, Laura with three. They had two Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley and a English Springer Spaniel named Spot “Spotty” Fetcher.
- Only Bill Clinton (1993 – 2001) had one dog, a chocolate Labrador Retriever named Buddy. Buddy was the largest dog in the White House during these 30 years. The Clinton’s also had a black and white cat named Socks.
The “most popular” breed was the English Springer Spaniel at three. George H.W. Bush (1989 – 1993) had two, Millie and Millie’s puppy, Ranger. George W. Bush (2001 – 2009) had one, Spotty, another of Millie’s puppies. English Springer’s are the second most popular spaniel breed.
The smallest dogs in the White House were George W. and Laura Bush’s Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss. Beazley.
- The “most hypoallergenic” dog goes to Barack Obama (2009 – 2017) and his two Portuguese Water Dogs, Bo and Sunny. The breed was chosen because his daughter, Malia, is allergic to dogs.
The present day presidential dogs were the fewest in number. As the years have gone by, presidents have had fewer and fewer pets on the whole. Perhaps keeping a large number of pets is a thing of the past and a sign of the times. However, one thing is certain, dogs are the most popular companion animal in the United States. 38% of American families have a dog. No house with a dog should be without a secure, durable dog door. PlexiDor Dog Doors is known for theirs and they are warrantied and guaranteed. Contact us or call at 888-PETDOOR to find out more!
