• George W. Bush, the 43rd President and son of 41st president George Bush, owned an English Springer Spaniel named Spot, daughter of the elder Bush's dog Millie, making Spot the only second generation White House dog ever.
• Besides being a dog, Millie Bush was also an author whose autobiography sold more copies than the first Bush's own.
• Holiday decorations featuring the likeness of the Obamas' dog Bo include cookies baked by the White House pastry chef, a confection made from licorice and marshmallows, and a sculpture fashioned from plastic garbage bags.
• Besides dogs, presidential pets have included horses, donkeys, bear cubs, goats, cows, sheep, parrots, turkeys, mockingbirds, roosters, raccoons, geese, crocodiles, an alligator, an opossum, a pig, a rat, a ram, a snake, a hippo, a bobcat, and an uncounted number of silkworms.
Video: Barney Bush Bites Reporter:
Pamela Redmond Satran is the author of Rabid: Are You Crazy About Your Dog or Just Crazy?, published this week by Bloomsbury.
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