Presidents Day is actually a federal holiday that is designated as "Washington's Birthday", but it is normally recognized as Presidents Day. 

I wondered how many of our Presidents had dogs at the White House while they served in the Presidency.  Many dogs have lived in the White House as presidential pets.  I was surprised to see the variety of pets that have been in Washington.  I think you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of animals they are attracted to and the pets they keep.

I found some of the pet choices of our past U.S. presidents most interesting.  Andrew Jackson, 17th president, kept a white mouse as a pet.  It was a mouse that he had found in his bedroom.  Andrew Jackson had a parrot which was taught to swear, and he also had fighting cocks.  That tells me a lot about the 17th president of the U.S. 

John Quincy Adams, our 6th president had silkworms and an American alligator.  I thought, how strange was that? Did he keep it in the pool? As I researched our 31st president, Herbert Hoover, I discovered that he also had 2 alligators.

There were two presidents that had a menagerie of animals. They were our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge and our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt.  Coolidge literally had a zoo of animals:  many dogs and domestic animals, and a few strange pets like a pygmy hippo, wallaby, black bear, bobcat, lion cubs, and a duiker (small antelope).   Roosevelt also had many animals, mostly domestic; but in addition, he had a badger, rat, guinea pigs, and a garter snake.

 I love this old photo I found of Pauline Wayne, a dairy cow that grazed on the White House grounds and provided milk for President Taft. 

That was a hundred years ago, and would we not think it strange in this day?  Pauline was the last cow to work at the White House.  There was only one President, Chester Arthur (our 21st president) who had no known pets during the time he served in the White House. 

George Washington had a lifelong passion for his hunting dogs.  They were his hobby; and through selective breeding, he eventually created a unique breed of foxhound, "Virginia Hounds".  His favorite dog, whose name was Sweet Lips, was from his own dog breeding.  Sweet Lips could often be seen at his side and accompanied him on many of his trips. 

After the Revolutionary War, Washington returned to Virginia to create a superior hunting dog.  During the war, Washington had developed a friendship with a French general who spoke of the French king's staghounds.  These hounds processed great stamina and focus during hunting.  After the war, Washington initiated a lengthy correspondence with his French general friend.  Washington wanted to obtain some of these staghounds.  The problem was:  the staghounds he desired had been bred in the French Royal Kennels and could not be obtained.  After some time, the French general did manage to secure seven large French hounds for Washington and sent them over to America.   Washington was excited about the dogs and began a selective breeding process for creating his perfect hunting dog.  He wanted a dog that was smaller than the French Staghounds; yet, a hunting dog that would keep its speed and strength during hunts.  He was successful; and from this, he developed the American Foxhound.

Buying dog food, for many dog owners, is so confusing.  You stand there in the store and look at the wall of brightly colored bags of dog food and think of all those dog food commercials you've seen, with the dogs playing in the lush green grass and wonder, which one is really good?  Dog food companies spend zillions on advertising and promoting their brand, so you need to learn to read the labels in order to really know what is in them.  I feel that if I am expecting a working dog to do its job, then it needs to have the best fuel in its system to do that job.  It takes a lot of time and effort to train a working dog, and you want that dog to live a long, healthy life; so feed your dog the best food you can afford.  Personally, I feed a combination of raw food and dry kibble. 

 By law, all dog food companies must have an ingredients list on the bag. If there is not an ingredients list, don't buy that food.  This is how you read the ingredients label on a bag of dry food: The first four ingredients listed on the bag are the most important items.  Like human food, ingredients are listed by volume.  In other words, the first ingredient listed is the largest amount of that item in the bag.  The 2nd would be the 2nd largest amount; and so on down the line.  

Now, what is important to know is how the meat is classified.  There are basically 3 ways that meat is put in dog food.  I will use chicken as an example, but this applies to all meats.  Meats will be listed as either chicken meat (whole chicken), chicken by- product, or chicken meal.  When the ingredients in dog food is listed on the label, it is measured by volume before it is processed.  This can make for even more confusion.  For example, chicken is mostly water (about 60-70%), so if the label says CHICKEN MEAT (whole chicken) as the first ingredient, then that ingredient will cook down to a much lower percent.  Essentially, you will have CHICKEN.  This is good, but it will process down due to water in the meat.  CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT-this is the worst of the meat labels because it includes everything:  organs, beaks, claws, and all.  CHICKEN MEAL-this is the best because it is the good parts of the chicken and is already cooked down and dehydrated.  OK; now, I hope you have a better understanding of the difference between meat, meat by-product and meat meal.