My dog Susie says

Where stars become President

As you know if you've been reading my blog for the last few months, Sandy and I live half the year in the Southern mountains and the rest on the beaches of Southern California. So we spend a lot of time seeing and talking with movie stars and beach bums. Also, when I wrote my very first “blog”, I said that I hated that word blog and could someone come up with something better. Well, an Italian Shepherd from Italy emailed me and said why don't you call it a “bark”? Perfect!! I also heard from a German Shepherd( from guess where) who thought it should be named a “bitch.” Leave it to those happy-go-lucky Germans. Let's go with the Italians. Sandy loves warmer Lake Como so much better than snowy Berlin anyway.

Now when you go to LA, there are two great places to visit to get the scoop on what's happening around town. The first is the park in Santa Monica and the second is the Santa Monica Pier on the beach. There are dogs of every shape, age and size at both locations. There are dogs hanging out there that have lived for over 100 in human years, with stories passed along from their relatives covering the entire previous century. The last time we were there I met a few of these woolly historians.

My bark will only cover tales that interest Sandy and me. So, if I leave anything out, I'll bark about it in later posts. One of Sandy's favorite shows is “Sex and the City.” Also, Sandy's husband Richard once met the show's lead Sarah Jessica Parker, and one of his favorite movies “Ferris Bueller's Day Off,” stars her husband Matthew Broderick. I found out from my buddies here at the park that Sarah and Matthew bought a dog named Sally from a farmer on a highway in California. So they sort of rescued Sally. Sallie is also a Border Collie like me which makes this more special. Hey, we might be cousins.

Actress Drew Barrymore, whose Grandfather John once played President Lincoln, has many types of dogs with two favorites, “Templeton” and “Flossie” both of Labrador/Chow mix. Templeton was found at an LA flea market and Flossie was a stray she adopted. Good for her. To show her great appreciation for being rescued, Flossie actually saved Drew and her husband by waking them from a deadly fire that burned their house completely down. One good turn deserves another!

Actor Chevy Chase has owned numerous types of dogs and once actually played a mutt in “Oh! Heavenly Dog.” He became famous on Saturday Night Live by imitating President Gerald Ford falling down over and over. And speaking of Presidents and their dogs: With the Presidential election now on the horizon, I was particularly interested in any gossip about presidential dogs my friends on the beach might know. Now two guys that ran our country were from around here: Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Nixon had a couple of dogs,“Checkers” a Cocker Spaniel and “King Timahoe” an Irish Setter. He also once owned a French poodle named “Vicky.” When Nixon was running for office, he was accused of accepting numerous illegal bribes. He answered by appearing on national TV and saying the only thing he every received for free was his little dog Checkers. So Checkers helped “bail” out a future President of the United States.

Former actor turned President, Ronald Reagan was a neighbor of Sandy and Richard in LA for a number of years. When they would see him walking around in the early evening, he would be accompanied by Secret Service agents and one of his dogs. His favorite was “Lucky” a large Sheepdog. He sure was “lucky” to survive an assassin's bullet that almost killed him. President Reagan and Nancy also had a “King Charles Spaniel” named “Rex.” Very appropriate for a President.

I also learned that President Lyndon Johnson owned a number of Beagles and had a bad habit of lifting them up by their ears. Now how would you feel if someone lifted you up by your breasts or ba**s? Also, this Texan was so brilliant that he named his Beagles; Her, Him, Little Beagle, and Beagle. And to think he was once a school teacher.

Walking on the Santa Monica beach, I also learned that actress Marilyn Monroe frequently met President JFK at a home built right here on the sand nearby. She owned a Basset Hound named “Hugo” given to her by husband and famous author Arthur Miller. Her favorite pet was a Poodle given to her by good friend Frank Sinatra. She named it “Mafia.”

Well, I'm a little worn out by all this information, so I'm going to go begging for some left-over turkey from Thanksgiving.

Catch you later,

Susie & Sandy

P.S. The biggest baddest cowboy hero of all time was John Wayne. His nickname was “Duke,” who was his childhood dog!

To see more of Susie's barks, go to Click here For more info on Sandy go to Click here