Bully Sticks

Presidential Pooch - Grits, the Impeached First Dog

After all these years, it still remains a mystery.  Why was First Dog, Grits Carter impeached and replace by of all things a Siamese cat named, Misty Malarki Ying Yang.

The dog had been a gift to young Amy Carter from her teacher, but soon after a meeting recorded in the Presidential diary on June 8th, 1977, the dog was abruptly returned to Amy’s teacher.  What happened in that meeting?  In attendance were, President Jimmy Carter, his daughter Amy, Mr Herbert Ford, a respected dog handler, Mrs. Herbert Ford and the infamous Grits.  All we know is that soon after this meeting, Grits was impeached.

Did he chew the President’s shoes instead of his dog chews, or did he just stink up the place?  Seems unfair…. We’ve all see more “stink” in the White House from the Presidents that should have caused impeachment then this cute pooch could ever produce.

Presidential Pooches - Barney and Miss Beazley

Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley have achieved almost as much recognition as their owner, President George W. Bush and First Lady, Laura Bush.

Barney has starred in 7 Movies and has dozens of websites devoted to him.  Miss Beazley, aka Beazley Weazley, has been Barney’s co-star in several of those films and has her own legion of fans.

When not busy creating movies, Barney enjoys his ball collection, including a golf ball, tennis ball and soccer ball or his new favorite pastime … horseshoes.

Meanwhile, Miss Beazley can most often be found devouring a favorite dog chew.

Barney and Miss Beazley follow President George W. Bush along the West Wing Colonnade Wednesday, July 23, 2008, on the way back to the Oval Office at the White House. White House photo by Joyce Boghosian

Presidential Pooch, Spotty - Born to be First Dog

Born March 17th 1989 at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC, Spotty was born to be First Dog.  Her mother, Millie was the Presidential Pooch of George H.W. Bush had her litter of pups on the White House grounds.  Little did she realize that when her daughter went to live with Presidents Bush’s son, George W,  that  she would be returning to her birth home a few short years later.

The spotted Springer Spaniel traveled frequently with the President and was known to love a good game of tennis ball throwing.  It seemed that tennis balls were her favorite dog chew.

She was known to sleep on a chair in the Presidential bedroom until her death at the age of 15 in February 2004..  She has been greatly missed.

Presidential Pooch, The sad tale of Buddy

Chocolate Lab, Buddy joined the White House Staff as First Dog in December of 1997 in the midst of the impeachment controversy of President Bill Clinton.

From the start it was a rocky road.  First there was the constant battles with Socks, the cat and then the allegations  from the press that poor Buddy was only added to the family as a media diversion.  After spending a couple hours playing for the cameras, Buddy was shipped off to a trainer and seemed to appear whenever the President’s Public Relations needed a boost.

Unfortunately, the sad tale ended when on January 2nd, 2002, Buddy was struck and killed by a car outside of the Clinton’s home in New York.

Hopefully, Buddy is spending his days chomping on bully sticks in a happy heavenly place.

Presidential Pooch, Millie the Children’s book Author

By far one of the most talented Presidential dogs has to be George H.W. and Barbara Bush’s beloved Springer Spaniel, Millie. Not only did she write her very own children’s book but she was also a role model for other working dog Mom’s.  While in office she had a boisterous brood of bouncing puppies, one named Ranger became President George H.W. Bush’s constant companion and another, Spot took over as first dog with President George W. Bush.

I’m sure Millie was well compensated with plenty of all natural dog treats for her successful writing endeavor.

Presidential Pooches - Murry the outlaw of Falahill

Murray the Outlaw of Falahill was not this puppy’s original name when he was given to President Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly before Christmas 1940. The Scottish terrior’s name at that time was Big Boy, however FDR quickly determined that was not regal enough for a presidential pooch and renamed him after a Scottish ancestor. Of course calling out Murray the Outlaw of Falahill became pretty tiresome so the puppy soon learned to answer to Fala.

Throughout the war years Fala earned the love of the American people and stories of his generosity toward the war effort and his fierce loyalty to the Country began to crop up in the news.

When rumors he had been left behind in the Aleutian Islands surfaced, FDR quickly asserted they were the folly of Republican Fiction writers along with the further fiction that FDR had sent a fleet of destroyers at a cost of millions to retrieve his beloved dog.

Fala went on to earn the honorary rank of Private in the US Army.

Throughout his time as President and up until his death in 1945, Fala was FDR’s constant companion. Traveling everywhere with the President. The President’s daily breakfast menu always contained a dog bone for Fala.

After FDR’s death in 1945, Fala stayed with Eleanor Roosevelt until his own death in 1952.