Thursday, April 14, 2011

Class is in session....

Please take your seats....
History class is about to begin....


Any man who does not like dogs
and want them about
does not deserve to be in the White House
-- Calvin Coolidge


How many Newfoundland dogs
lived in the White House?

Right!

There were THREE!

James Buchanan the 15th President of the United States....
Whenever Mr. Buchanan was in Pennsylvania, he lived in a big, brick house called Wheatland. And he had a dog there who was a 170-pound Newfoundland named Lara. You would think that a dog named "Lara" was a girl dog, but Mr. Buchanan's Lara was a boy dog. I don't know why anybody would name a boy dog "Lara," but maybe it was sort of like in that song "A Boy Named Sue."

Back in those days, not many people had Newfies because the breed had only been around for about 50 years. A picture of Lara was published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, so that everybody could see what this dog looked liked. It was not a photographic type of picture, though. It was one of those drawing types of pictures. Anyway, Mr. Leslie wrote, "Prominent [on his estate] is Mr. Buchanan's Newfoundland dog Lara; remarkable for his immense tail and his attachment to his master."

Ulysses S. Grant the 18th President of the United States....
President Grant had a Newfoundland named Faithful.
Ulysses S. Grant's youngest son, Jesse
had several dogs
after his father was elected. 
But one after another, they died.
Finally, when the boy got a Newfoundland
named Faithful,
Grant warned the staff if the pet died,
they'd all be fired.
Faithful lived.


Rutherford Hayes the 19th President of the United States....
President Hayes had a Newfoundland named Hector.
Not any interesting facts about Hector -- but he was there.
 
 
Later --  Professor Remington --
There is your history lesson for today
-- class is OUT!
(no running in the halls!)

46 comments:

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

I furgot to bring an apple fur Professor Remington!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: If Winter returns, please enjoy it fur me!

Unknown said...

Best History class I ever attended! Thanks Rem! Billy

Unknown said...

Gloria is right!! Most interesting, best history class ever!!

Rem, do you ever think you could be a President's dog?
Wonder if any Presidents have owned a sheltie...hmmm

Unknown said...

Grrreat history lesson. But...but...we think that one of your dates might be wrong. We don't think America was here in the 1600s.

Scooter said...

Hey Remington!
Wow, great info here! We love history and especially canine history. I'm sure those Newfies were a huge help to their Pres owners! Keep these lessons coming!
Grr and a Scholastic Woof,
Sarge, COP

MadSnapper said...

today i learned from Ann's blog that Easter eggs come from a factory she has, now i know there have been 3 sweet pups like you living with 3 presidents. will wonders never cease? thanks for the into, you are looking good with the pencil in your paw. if i learn anything you need to know i will be back. you make a super duper history teacher, so now you are a professor and a reporter, your resume gets longer every day.

MadSnapper said...

forgot to say my friend has a sweetie of a pitbull that is a Girl named Isaiah

Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Mom said...

You not tinkin' bout movin' to da White House, are ya? Hopes not!

Marilyn said...

You'll have to post about the Newfie that was with Lewis and Clark, too. Your history lesson is a terrific way to help us remember those leaders. Could you think about doing some workshops for teachers-you'd be one of the most interesting instructors EVER! ♥♫

Anonymous said...

That's cool! You taught us some things we didn't know. Now you just have to convince Beth or Mike to run for president and you can be number four! :)

Elyse and Riley

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

It has clearly been far too long since the last Newfie in the White House!

Unknown said...

Oooh, great history lesson, Professor Rem! You are one smart dawg!

Frankie Furter and Ernie said...

Grrrrrreat Lesson... Will the test be Multiple Choice or Essay? I won't run in the Halls.

Corbin said...

Holy Potatoes! I think I would look good in the white house... yea?
-Corbin

Peggy Frezon said...

Thanks for the lesson Remmington! Tell Bo to move on over, you'd rule the White House!

Anonymous said...

It was probably 73 degrees yesterday when I took that picture of Riley on my Wordless Wednesday post. It's supposed to get up to 70 today. Not warm, but not cold either. It's been nice! I wish this weather would stay around, but unfortunately, it gets up into the 90's and 100's here in the summer--and it's SOOOO humid, too. Yikes. Not looking forward to that! We'll enjoy these nice days outside while they last!

Elyse and Riley

Ms. ~K said...

Great lesson, Rem!
May we add a little geography to the history lesson? We traveled to Newfoundland several years ago. It is beautiful, but we saw more Labbies than Newfies...strange, but true! :)

jen said...

What an awesome lesson Professor Remington! I had no idea about that! I knew the Kennedys once owned Newfs but I didn't know about the others!

Peggy Frezon said...

p.s. Thanks for following me, I followed you too! Kelly sends slurps!

♥I am Holly♥ said...

What an awesome lesson!! Remington, you always have the most interesting things to share!! Lots of love, Holly and mom

Two French Bulldogs said...

Thank you teacher! You learn something new every day
Benny & Lily

3 doxies said...

I so didn't knows any of dis. What I think is kinda intresting is how close da presidencies were, you know da 15th, 18th and 19th. I wonders how come there has been no doxies in da white house...never mind, you dont has to answer dat:)

What time is recess?

Puddles

JacksDad said...

Is it lunch time yet?

Ginny Hartzler said...

And a very good history lesson it is, Rem!! I always enjoy knowing about the persident's pets! I think Clinton was one of the few to have a cat, they seem to mostly have dogs. But as I recall, Clinton had a dog as well and the care of Socks fell mostly to the secretary.

Angel Junior, Orion and Sammy said...

Newfies in the White House.....cool!

My Mind's Eye said...

MOL Prof. Remington!!
All we can say is it is the White House's loss for not having more Newfies!!!

I say we start a campaign Newfie for President 2012!!!
Hugs Madi

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

What an interesting history class! Mom says that if she had a class like that and a teacher like you way back when she was in school, she might actually have enjoyed history:)

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

HH and The Boys said...

Wow... I didn't know any of that... Thanks for the great lesson. I did take notes in class... so you can quiz me later.

pawhugs, Max

animal lover, quilt lover said...

I didn't know any of that either!! Thank you Professor Remington!!!
You are a good teacher!!
xx, Bambi & Fern

FANCY the Red Standard Poodle said...

Hi Remington,

You look very professorial and studious with you readers pushed up on your head!

Y'all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog

Cher' Shots said...

Thank you Professor Remington for sharing these facinating facts.
'love & hugs from afar'

Tracy said...

Goodness, I hope I wasn't late for class...

I really enjoyed visiting your site...very cute!
Since you like dogs, check out my book about our golden retriever :)
http://sbpra.com/tracyspaine/

White Dog Blog said...

We do not believe there have EVER been any American Eskimo Dogs in the White House!

And that song? My granpa would not call momma "Sue" ever because of that song...until he died she was "Susan," despite her preference for the other.

Thanks for the VERY interesting history lesson.

Kellee the Caffeinated said...

Very interesting... I had no idea!!!! Lara is totally a chick name!!! Interesting! Oh BTW, Today's post on my blog is dedicated to you buddy!!!! =)

White Dog Blog said...

Last minute correction. Quinn just came to me to announce that his research has revealed that Herbert Hoover had an Eskie named Yukon! Well, what do you know?

Asta said...

Pwofessow Wemington
I weally enjoyed that histowy lesson
I didn't know that Newfies wewe so wawe in the beginning of ouw countwy.
Those must have been good pwesidentses to have the smawts to get such faithful and bootiful doggies.
Of couwse, you'we the most bootiful of them all
smoochie kisses
ASTA

Suka said...

hey Remington,

What a great history lesson today! I never new that about Newfies and the White House. When will we be seeing you there? I have some laws that I would like you to pass.

Why can't I run in the halls? That is the best part of being at school! :->

Suka

PhiDeaux said...

Hey Rem Ol pal could you slow down with all the knowledge and stuff. I don't need the pressure on my end. All of your Newfie knowledge, moon knowledge and showing your Zone 3 friends. All I want to do is lay around all day and now my guy is asking me why can't I do a little something.
Maybe if you could dumb yourself down I wouldn't have to work so hard. See what you can do for a fellow Golden Oaks boy.

SquirrelQueen said...

Wow Remington, that's the best history lesson I have ever had. Wish my history profs in college had been as smart as you.

bichonpawz said...

Professor Remington! We never knew about that!! You also have incredibly large paws!! We LOVE your HUGE paws!!! Thanks so much for your very interesting history lesson!! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

That was indeed interesting! Thanks for another edifying post. And we [well, mama] are so impressed at how well you pose - with a pen between your toes, for Peter's sake! We're off to see if there were ever any Great Danes in the White House. We're pretty sure there have been mixed breeds and mama sure remembers President Johnson's beagles. Don't know about boxers [Abby's other half]. Pretty sure there's never been a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever - too new, too Canadian. But other retrievers? Probably. One can tell a lot about a man by the dogs he chooses to share his life with.

Jed & Abby

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

Wahoo! There HAS been one Presidential Great Dane, named - wait for it - 'President' belonging to one of mama's favorite Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And, for Mango: there has been one English Mastiff, who shared the attentions of President Rutherford B. Hayes with the aforementioned Newf, Hector.

Jed & Abby

Molly the Airedale said...

We definitely need to see another Newfie in the White House, Remington. It's been too long!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Anonymous said...

Hey Remington maybe you can search the internet and find some photos of the Presidents and their Newfs? O bet they are not as handsome as you. however it would be interesting to see. How could you not smile seeing a Newf walk down the hall way in the white house? it would brighten my day. I don't think any of the Presidents have had a Toller and that's Ok.

Kira said...

Remington,

thank you for the history lesson, I quite enjoyed it!

Kira

Sagira said...

How cool. Can you imagine living at the WHITE HOUSE? Talk about a fun time.