Famous Dogs

• The first living animal to travel to space was a small mixed breed dog named Laika. She circled the earth in the Russian Sputnik 2 in 1957.
• John F. Kennedy’s terrier, Charlie, sired 4 puppies with Laika’s daughter, Pushinka.
• Rin Tin Tin was the first American dog movie star. Born in Germany, he was rescued from a bombed German war dog kennel as a puppy and brought to the United States by Lee Duncan, an American corporal in World War I, who became his trainer. First appearing in “Where the North Begins” in 1925, he signed his own contracts for 26 movies with a paw print. At the height of his career he was his studios (Warner Brothers Pictures) major wage earner earning approximately 5 million dollars. He is credited with saving the film studio from bankruptcy.
• Toto’s role in the Wizard of Oz was played by a female Cairn terrier named Terry.
• Davy Crockett’s dog was named Sport. He traveled with him to Texas and was killed in the siege of the Alamo.
• The most successful mountain rescue dog ever was a St. Bernard named Barry who lived in the late 1800’s and is credited with saving 40 lives.
• Argos or Argus, Ulysses’ hunting dog, was they only creature to recognize the Greek hero when he returned home disguised as a beggar after 20 years of adventure.
• Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology, guarded the gates to the underworld.
• The Taco Bell dog is a female and her name is Giget. The Taco Bell dog advertising campaign is recognized as one of the most successful aid campaigns in history and is credited for increased sales at Taco Bells over 15%.
• Balto was a sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchrage Alaska to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Slde Dog Race.
• Petey was a white American Pit Bull Terrier with a ring around one eye, and played alongside a lovable bunch of kids called “The Little Rascals” in the Our Gang Television Series. In 1972 the breed name was changed to the American Staffordshire Terrier.
• The name of the Dog on the Cracker Jack box was Bingo.
• Lassie is undoubtedly the world’s most famous dog and is a character who has starred in many movies, TV shows and books over the years. Lassie was created by Eric Knight and published as a short story in the Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and as a novel in 1940. The first Lassie movie was “Lassie Come Home” in 1942. All of the “Lassie’s” have been male.
• Spuds MacKenzie was the original party animal, he made his debut in a Bud Light beer commercial during the Super Bowl in 1987. Spuds, who was a senior party consultant for the Anheuser-Bush Company, had a black circle around one eye. He became an overnight hit and his likeness appeared on T-shirts, mugs, posters and stuffed animals. “Spuds” was actually a female dog.