The President's Dog
Does the President's
choice of a personal pet reveal
Presidential personality? One
study revealed that people with no solid
roots, especially during childhood, were
less likely to own a dogs as adults.
The Veterinary Behavior Society ponders: "What Type of Leader Will
Barack Obama be for His Future Pooch?" but the question is, how will the
President lead the country?
TheDogPlace Staff
-
January
2009
The Veterinary think tank wrestled with “Will he follow the
militaristic model of imposing his will through domination and
showing the pooch who is “boss?“ and the biggies, "Or will he
choose a more nuanced approach to train and motivate the first pup,
recognizing that leadership is not synonymous with dominance?”
The rest of the interesting article can be found at:
www.avsabonline.org but politically speaking, it read like not
much more than stretching for "current affairs" mileage. Our new
President has a lot more on his plate than training the family dog.
Being behaviorists and all that, the Veterinarians should have delved
into the correlation between breed choice and owner behavior.
Assuming the
"President's Dog" is indeed the President's own choice for his
best friend, the dog fancy is laying odds on what that will be.
Purebred? Shelter dog? (That would be democratic enough and
might be interpreted as proving he's for the middle class.) Most
usually the family breed's personality and characteristics are a
reflection of presidential personality.
Kennedy
has gotten another Portuguese Water Dog, which the Fox commentator
called a “hound.” No matter, the point is, Porties are affable but
spirited, highly intelligent non-stop workers, able to paddle their way
out of the deepest water or muck. The Kennedy boys had dogs but
John wasn't much of a keeper and his dogs were mostly gifts from
Ireland.
His father gave John a Welsh terrier that stayed
around long enough to breed Pushinka, a gift from Premier Khrushchev.
The litter was given away within two months except for two that lived at
the Kennedy home on Squaw Island but they were eventually given away
too.
Ted seems to be the real dog lover. In
fact, the first thing he did after getting home from the hospital was
take his two Porties outside.
Fox News got in on the President’s Dog coverage with a controversial
clip of Ted Kennedy disputing Henry (The Fonz) Winkler’s claim that the
Labradoodle doesn’t shed.
Update: President Obama has chosen the Portuguese Water
Dog which may have been inspired by a beloved Democratic President,
President Kennedy.
But back to Winkler. He’s no dummy so his Labradoodle is
probably an outside dog. If it was in his living room, he’d know
it sheds and he wouldn’t be quoting the designer dog "no-shed" marketing
hype. But we do agree, either breed would be great for the President’s
family.
President
Obama appears to have never had a dog, so if he does follow Presidential
tradition and get a dog, will he share that remarkable
one-on-relationship that President Lyndon Johnson shared with his
Beagles and President Bush so clearly enjoys with his Scottie Barney?
Actually, the whole Bush family seems to love dogs, Scotties in
particular. One might surmise that the terrier's resilient, rough
and ready nature suits them well.
When Barney bit the reporter in November, the groundskeeper
reported the incident to G.W. We’re told President Bush laughed
and said “good!” He didn’t have to see the video clip to know the
reporter had no business poking and grabbing at Barney. President
Bush knows his breed choice. The Scottie is a happy-go-lucky,
self-possessed, determined little dog. Just like his owner.
No matter one's political affiliation, the country is thankful for
President Bush's terrier single-mindedness to keep us safe, even when it
hurt his legacy. Hopefully, President Obama will be as totally
committed to the country.
The saga of Obama’s Breed Choice has proven interesting. Breeders of
purebred dogs hope it will be a purebred and not a shelter dog as
recommended by the Animal Rights crowd. Whatever. It makes better news than what
color drapes Michelle Obama will choose for the White House dining room.
http://www.thedogplace.org/POLITICS/Presidents-Dogs-0901_BJA.asp
#1110
President's Pets reveals past
President's choices for the White House
