In honor of President’s Day, this article celebrates the dogs that called the White House home.

When looking back through the history of American presidents and their dogs, it appears that owning a dog is as American as apple pie. From our founding fathers to more recent presidents, stories abound of their love for their dogs and the hijinks that some of these beloved pets got into while living in the White House.

President Warren Harding was the first president whose dog received quite of bit of media and social attention. He had an Airedale Terrier named Laddie Boy. Laddie Boy had his own chair for cabinet meetings, and the White House held birthday parties for him and allowed “interviews” with him on occasion. President Harding and his wife, Florence, were advocates for abused and neglected animals and used their terrier Laddie Boy to get media coverage for animal rights issues.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had seven dogs while in the White House. However, his most famous dog was Fala, his Scottish Terrier. Fala traveled everywhere with President Roosevelt and was so popular with the public that two films were made about him, and he even had his own cartoon series in the newspapers. Fala was so loved by President Roosevelt that he is buried near him and is the only dog immortalized in a presidential memorial.

Yuki, a mixed-breed dog, was loved deeply by President Lyndon B. Johnson. His daughter, Luci, found him roaming at a gas station on Thanksgiving Day and took him with her to the family’s Thanksgiving dinner. The president fell in love with Yuki and they became inseparable almost immediately. Yuki would often “sing” with the president and they regularly swam and slept together. President Johnson and Yuki even danced together at his daughter Lynda’s wedding. Yuki’s dog collar can be viewed at the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Library.

President Barack Obama fulfilled a promise to his daughters by getting them a Portuguese water dog. They named their puppy Bo. Bo was a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy and a descendant of President John F. Kennedy’s dog. First Lady Michelle Obama often joked about the fact that Bo has such an active schedule of photo shoots, appearances and scheduled time with White House staff who wanted to play with him that she would get a memo every month of Bo’s itinerary and have to approve it.

It is widely known that presidents have had many types of animals at the White House, from lizards, goats, turkeys and alligators, to zebras, to name a few. However, none were as well known as the presidents’ dogs, proving once again that dogs truly are man’s best friend.

— Brown County Humane Society