Hey, calling all dog lovers! Do you know which breed of dog was the first official Presidential dog? Answer, the Scottie, centre pic. (the other pics are of a rescue dog, Alvin (left) and rescue dog, Biba (right)). Fala was a gift to Franklin Roosevelt from his cousin, Daisy Suckley in 1940. She wasn’t ‘just’ his cousin, and Fala wasn’t ‘just’ a dog who happened to live in the White House. Daisy wrote a book about Fala which was turned into a Pathe newsreel film. The idea was to improve FDR’s image at a time when the media were throwing mud at him, because America didn’t want to be dragged into WWII.

FDR adored the pup. Eleanor Roosevelt wasn’t keen, but Fala played his role as cute sidekick to perfection, leading to a tradition for Presidents to have an official pooch. This tradition has been broken once in a hundred years – by President Donald Trump. Was that an election breaker? I couldn’t possibly comment. But the current dog in the White House is a rescue dog! Yay! He’s also a great deal larger than the terriers above!