Have you recently adopted a dog, and need to find a great name for them? Then you’ve come to the right place if you’ve fun out of name ideas!
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We’ve done some research to create a list of dog names that have a presidential bearing. This may include names of past presidents, as well as the names of dogs who lived with their First families in the White House! Before we get started, we’ll take a look at dogs in the White House, and then on with the list of names we promised you! Let’s get started!
Presidential Dog Names
Here’s our list of presidential dog names!
1). Skip: was a fur baby for President Theodore Roosevelt and his family. They were famous for being pet lovers. They even kept other pets including kangaroo rats, snakes, birds, ponies, and more. Skip had short legs and was black and tan. He was a mixed breed terrier who was brought home after a Colorado bear hunt. In 1999, Skip became a recognized breed known as the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier.
2). Laddie Boy: was the name of Warren G. Harding’s dog. He was a gift from the first lady to the president after his inauguration. Laddie was an Airedale Terrier. This dog was represented on campaign slogans, too. Laddie attended meetings and even had his own cabinet chair! He was also known to gree official delegations and hosted the White House Easter egg roll when the Hardings were away. He was known to tag alone with the family almost everywhere. Laddie has even been immortalized—his dog tags are on exhibit at the Harding Presidential Center in Marion, OH. And there’s a life-size statue of the dog in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
3). Rob Roy: was the name of President Calvin Coolidge’s dog when he served his term. Rob was a white collie, and he was included in a painting of the First Lady, Grace Coolidge. Later the Coolidges had another dog named Prudence Prim, which was another white collie. He also went on trips with the president and first lady, and even slept in the presidential bedroom! Rob Roy was also famous for chasing squirrels at the White House, and he didn’t like riding in elevators.
4). King Tut: what an unusual name for a presidential dog! This dog was owned by President Herbert Hoover. King Tut was a Belgian Malinois police dog. This dog was able to solve an image problem Hoover had. The president was seen to lack charisma and didn’t have much personal warmth. However, when the King Tut appeared in some photos with the president, people began to see Hoover in a different way. He was more appealing because of his dog. After Hoover on the presidential campaign, King Tut was put into patrol service each night. He worked with the White House police force, and was given the job of monitoring the home’s perimeter.
5). Fala: was a dog owned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a black Scottie and was the president’s constant companion for meetings and even war conferences. Fala also became famous due to two films produced by MGM. In the films, Fala gave up his toys to promote rubber collection during WWII. Fala slept in a chair at the foot of the president’s bed and was treated with a bone directly from the president’s breakfast tray each day. Fala even had followers—before this was a thing! He received mail from people all over the country!
6). Pushinka: was a good-will gift from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. He presented the dog as a gift to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The name Pushinka means “fluffy” in Russian. This pup was a daughter of the famous Strelka, who was the first Russian dog in space. Because Americans were suspicious of the Russians in that time, some thought the dog might be wearing a bug. However, she wasn’t wearing a listening device, and eventually became friends with everyone. She was also able to turn the head of Charlie, another dog owned by the Kennedy’s. Charlie and Pushinka became parents to a litter of puppies!
7). Him & Her: these were the names of two dogs owned by Lyndon B. Johnson. The president gained notoriety from dog lovers when he made a playful gesture of lifting the dogs by the ears at a news conference in the Rose Garden. While the dogs didn’t dangle in the air, it still upset many people who loved dogs.
8). Yuki: was another dog own by Johnson. This dog was found as a stray at a Texas gas station. The president’s daughter, Luci, found the dog. Yuki and Johnson used to have singing sessions together. Pictures of them singing are still treasured to this day.
9). King Timahoe: this is another creative dog name! This was the name of the Nixon’s dogs. This was an Irish Setter, and he lived at the White House with three other dogs including Pasha (a Yorkie), and Vicki (a Poodle).
10). Liberty: was owned by the Fords. She was a Golden retriever and went to live at the White House when she was just a puppy. Later, Liberty gave birth to eight puppies. Seven of the puppies were given to good homes, while the eighth puppy was donated to the Leader Dogs for the Blind. That puppy went on to become a seeing eye dog.
11). Grits: was the name of a dog owned by Jimmy Carter. She was a mixed-breed Springer spaniel puppy who was born the day Carter was elected president! While he lived at the White House, Grits did PR work with a veterinarian to launch a drive against parasites called heartworms.
12). Rex: was a dog owned by the Reagans. The dog was a King Charles spaniel. He was part of a menagerie owned by the presidential couple which included horses, dogs, cows and goldfish.
13). Millie: was owned by First Lady Barbara Bush. While at the White House, Millie gave birth to six puppies, which caused a media sensation. As a result, First Lady Barbara Bush ended up on the cover of Life magazine. She also dictated Millie’s book, which became a best seller. The book chronicled the dog’s typical day with her presidential pet parent.
14). Buddy: was owned by the Clintons and went to the White House as a puppy in 1997. Buddy was a chocolate Lab who made everyone love him.
15). Barney: was a gift to George W Bush in 2000. At one time, in 2002, he wore a small video camera and was allowed to wander through the White House. He recorded the Christmas decoration launch, which was eventually shown online!
16). Bo & Sunny: were two dogs owned by the Obamas. Bo was a Portuguese Water Dog, and he quickly drew interest to this breed. In 2013, First Lady Michelle Obama said another Portuguese Water Dog was coming to live in the White House. This was a girl whose name was Sunny.
More Presidential Dog Names
Here’s a list of more of the presidential dogs that lived in the White House! We’ve put the dogs’ names under the presidents they lived with.
George Washington: it’s interesting to note that some of these names sound as if they could be related to alcohol! These dogs were all hounds.
- Drunkard
- Taster
- Cloe
- Tipsy
- Tipler
- Mopsey
- Forester
- Lady Rover
- Vulcan
- Searcher
- Captain
- Sweetlips
John Adams: these dogs were mixed from undetermined breeds.
- Juno
- Satan
Rutherford Hayes: this was a president who really loved large dogs!
- Hector (German Shepherd)
- Nellie (German Shepherd)
- Duke (English Mastiff)
Theodore Roosevelt:
- Pete (Bull Terrier)
- Sailor Boy (Chesapeake Retriever)
- Jack (Terrier)
- Skip (Mutt)
- Manchu (Pekingese): was a gift given to Teddy’s daughter, Alice, from the empress of China!
- Calvin Coolidge
- Peter Pan (Terrier)
- Paul Pry (Airedale Terrier)
- Rob Roy (Collie)
- Calamity Jane (Shetland Sheepdog)
- Tiny Tim (Chow Chow)
- Blackberry (Chow Chow)
- Ruby Rough (Collie)
- Boston Beans (Bulldog)
- King Kole (undetermined breed)
- Bessie (Collie)
- Palo Alto (Bird Dog)
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Ask a Vet Live NowDogs in the White House
Many presidents in the US have brought their dogs to the White House to reside with the First family. Many of these dogs became famous from living in the White House and names for themselves! While some presidents have kept other types of animals (John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in one of the bathrooms at the White House!), about 68% of the pets have been dogs.
Can you guess which past president was the first to have a dog as president? It was George Washington! He had as many as 50 dogs and he is also responsible for the American foxhound dog breed. He also had other dogs including Dalmatians, Spaniels, Terriers, and a Newfoundland. While the White House was under construction during his first and second terms, the dogs didn’t live there. But still, Washington was known for loving dogs.
The first dogs in the White House were owned by John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams. They owned two mixed dogs. These dogs were very loved as evidenced in one Abigail’s letter to one of her granddaughters.
After that, the next dogs in the White House belonged to James Moore and his family. They had a Spaniel. After this presidency, no dogs lived in the White House again until Franklin Pierce. While he’s considered one of the worst presidents in the history of the US, he did love dogs. He owned seven small dogs during his time in office.
There you have it! Presidential dog names, with a little bit of history added in! We hope you’ve enjoyed this article and that you’ve found a great presidential name for your dog!
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Julie
Julie is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where she studied Animal science. Though contrary to the opinion of her parents she was meant to study pharmacy, but she was in love with animals especially cats. Julie currently works in an animal research institute (NGO) in California and loves spending quality time with her little cat. She has the passion for making research about animals, how they survive, their way of life among others and publishes it. Julie is also happily married with two kids.
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