Happy birthday George!

February 22.  The birthday of George Washington, the first President of the United States.  Well. I thought Abraham Lincoln was a dog lover – but I’m afraid Washington has him beat.  According to several sources, during his life, Washington was believed to have owned dogs in every group –hounds, terriers, sporting dogs, working dogs, toy dogs, non-sporting dogs and herding dogs. Some estimate that he had 50 or more dogs in his lifetime.  He had Newfoundlands, Greyhounds, Briards, a Dalmation, and a Cavalier.  But probably his favorite breed was the foxhound.  He was said to be passionate about the breed.   He was a foxhunter who had a pack of hounds at his home. And he even bred them himself – starting a unique breed of foxhounds, which he called the “Virginia Hound.” Over the years he worked on selectively breeding his Virginia Hounds and he is reportedly credited with being the main breeder in creating the American Foxhound.

Washington had some very interesting names for his dogs – Sweet Lips, Venus, Truelove, Taster and Drunkard to name a few.  No comment of some of his choices…I didn’t see Viktor in the list.

And apparently, not all of his dogs were well-behaved.  There is the story of a hound named Vulcan, who stole a ham from the kitchen!  My kind of dog!

So happy birthday George.  Whether we liked your politics or not, we sure appreciate you good taste in owning dogs!

©  Linda Wozniak