Presidential Dog Names Worth Emulating
November 03, 2011, By Craig J. Heimbuch 0 comments
"Quigley" was a gift to my dad for his 50th birthday, but the old English Springer ended up spending his waning years living with my wife and I. Giving him up—on Easter Sunday—to the mercy of the vet was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Seven years later, it's time I start looking for a new dog.
I'm pretty sure I'd like another Springer. Five years of Quigs riding shotgun in my Jeep and never needing a leash was proof enough of the breed for me. So what will I name it? I did a Google search for dog names, but it seemed a bit pedantic. Why not be a man of my times and do what so many people do and look for wise solace in the lives of celebrities? I searched "Celebrity Dogs" and was provided more than 135 million returns in just .13 seconds. This got me thinking. I searched "Celebrity Cats" and got 35.2 million results and "Celebrity Pets" brought back more than 214 million returns in less than a quarter second. Incidentally, "Celebrity Charity" returned just more than 121 million results in .18 seconds. All of this proves a few things to me:
1. Celebrities like dogs more than cats.
2. Celebrities like pets a lot more than philanthropy.
3. We are entirely too obsessed with celebrities.
Still, I found a site, Puppy Names HQ, that manages four databases of famous dog names in the categories of "Dog Stars," "Celebrity Puppies," "President's Dogs" and "Canine Characters." Hoping to raise my IQ a bit, I decided to forego the celebrity and famous dogs lists—though I'm pleased to report a complete list of celebrity dog names is well organized and easy to read, from Jake Gyllenhaal's German Sheperd "Atticus" to Will Smith's Rottweiler "Zhaki"—and browse through the dogs that have called the White House home.
In 235 years of independence, 44 men have served in the Office of the President with 99 animals serving as the First Best Friend. Presidents Obama, Clinton, Eisenhower, Taft, Benjamin Harrison, Garfield, Tyler and Jefferson were the owners of single dogs, while Calvin Coolidge took the kennel cake with 12 dogs. And judging by the names bestowed by first families on their pets, it's a wonder the American experiment has not ended in a ball of ill-advised flame.
