Tuesday, September 25, 2012

National Dog Week

It's national dog week this week, so I thought that I would provide you a list of 10 famous, real-life dogs.
1.) The dog in the Taco Bell commercials is actually a female chihuahua named Gidget. She also played Bruise's mom in Legally Blonde 2.
2.) The first dog in space was Laika. She was sent into space on Sputnik 2. She is credited as the first animal to enter or bit. Unfortunately, as there was no provision made to return her to earth, she was also the first animal to die in space.
3.) The first canine movie star was named Blair. She appeared in the movie "Rescued by Rover" in 1905. The movie was about an infant kidnapped by an old beggar woman who was returned home by the faithful dog Rover. Prior to this film, Rover was an uncommon name for a dog.
4.) The first cloned dog was an Afghan hound named Snuppy.
5.) The golden retriever in Bush's Baked Beans commercial is played by Paddington.
6.) Balto and Togo where the lead dogs in the 1925 serum run to Nome. Balto, ran the last leg and is there for the most famous. Togo ran the first and most treacherous leg which also was twice the distance. The Iditarod Dog sled race is run as a commemoration of the 1925 serum run.
7.) The Jack Russell Terrier who played wishbone on television wqs named Soccer.
8.) In 1940,Robot, a dog owned by a boy named Simon, discovered cave paintings in Lascaux.
9.) Toto from The Wizard of Oz was played by Terry the Cairn Terrier.
10.) This last dog may or may not be real. I found 2 versions of the story, one occurring in Wales and the other in France. In Wales the dogs name wasthe Gelert and he belonged to a king. In France, he was namedBlair Guinefort, and belonged to a knight. In each story an infant child was left alone with the dog. At the end of the day the cradle was overturned the infant was nowhere to be found there was blood on the mouth of the dog. The dogs owner killed the dog, thinking he had eaten baby, only to hear the baby cry turn over the cradle and find a child alive. In Wales, the king found a dead wolf, in France the night found a dead snake. In both cases, the animal had been killed by the dog in protection of the infant. The story in France, ends with the dog being given sainthood.

2 comments:

  1. As for me, Toto will always be the best of them all. lol

    By the way, a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" is coming out in 2013. It's called "Ox: The Great and Powerful." I am wondering what animal, if any, they will have in it.

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure the answer is available in Frank Baum's books.

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