Famous and Celebrity Dogs

I have never been awed by celebrities of any kind. Well, except for dog celebrities. That's because they don’t know that they’re celebrities, at least I don’t think they’re aware of their fame. They don’t act like humans do when they achieve celebrity status. Dogs just stay dogs.  This got me thinking --  how long have celebrity pets been a thing? Of course, curious me, I had to do a little research. I discovered that the first presidential celebrity dog in the White House was Laddie Boy, an Airedale terrier, owned by Warren Harding. Even though he wasn’t a popular president, his dog sure was. Laddie Boy is considered the media’s first presidential pet darling of the news outlets. The media may not have treated Harding kindly in their reporting, but Laddie Boy made up for it. The press loved him. 

The most famous German Shepard in history is probably Rin Tin Tin. He was saved and adopted by an American soldier, Lee Duncan, who was serving in France during World War I. Duncan took the dog to his home in Los Angeles, where he would have lived a pretty ordinary life had a Hollywood filmmaker not seen him jumping 12 feet in the air. The filmmaker hired Rinty and his owner to star in a movie. Considered a natural he went on to star in over 30 Hollywood movies and became the unofficial mascot of Warner Bros Studios. 

Rin Tin Tin wasn’t the only dog to steal filmgoers’ hearts. Lassie, and Toto of the Wizard of Oz did a pretty good job at it, too. Lassie, who was played by a male dog named Pal, was reportedly paid more than his co-star, Elizabeth Taylor. Never mind that Lassie, the character, was supposed to be a female, On screen it didn’t matter. Several dogs played Lassie throughout the years, all of whom were descendants of the original Lassie. Talk about a Hollywood dynasty!

And then there are the hero dogs, like Balto, who lead a huge dog sled team in 1925. Diphtheria was running rampant in Nome, Alaska during one of the harshest winters on record. The frozen ocean separated the town from the rest of the world for seven months. Aviation was not an option and only dogsledding could save the town. A group of 20 men and 150 dogs forged across the frozen wilderness in temperatures of 60 degrees below zero for 674 miles to deliver the antitoxin serum.  

More recently, is the story of Lex, a bomb-sniffing military dog taken to Fallujah, Iraq, with his handler, USMC Cpl. Dustin J. Lee. During a rocket-propelled grenade attack that killed Lee, Lex was wounded and despite his injuries, refused to leave Cpl. Lee’s side. He had to be dragged away to be treated by medics. Lex was the first active-duty working military dog granted early retirement so that he could be adopted by Cpl. Lee’s parents, Jerome and Rachel Lee of Quitman, Mississippi. Despite mobility issues caused by 50 pieces of shrapnel still lodged in his body incurred during his military service, Lex worked as a therapy dog visiting veterans at VA hospitals and retirement homes. In 2008 he was awarded a Purple Heart and was he was named the American Kennel Club Law Enforcement Dog of the Year.

Finally, there’s Sinbad, a mixed-breed canine sailor who served as a mascot aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter George W. Campbell during WWII. Sinbad was originally intended as a gift for a sailor's girlfriend who was unable to keep the dog, so the sailor snuck him on board that night. The sailors and the ship’s captain bonded quickly with Sinbad and he was officially enlisted, with a paw print signature on his enlistment papers. He was given his own service, Red Cross and service IDs, and his own bunk. After serving as Dog 1st Class for six years, he was promoted to Chief Dog. Sinbad had a uniform and a service record that recorded his 11 years of sea duty, including combat in WWII. During one battle in 1943, the ship was damaged and all but essential personnel were ordered off the ship while it was towed for repair. Sinbad was one of the few who stayed on board. The crew believed that as long as Sinbad was on board, the USS Campbell was unsinkable. The ship never sank. It was retired after a 46-year career that included serving in the Korean and Viet Nam wars. Sinbad was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, a World War II Victory Medal, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal.