I believe that this might be the moment that sold the golden retriever to the American public.
The woman on the left is first lady Betty Ford. The mother dog is Honor’s Foxfire Liberty Hume, better known as Liberty.
She was President Gerald Ford’s third golden retriever, but the only one the family owned while at the White House.
Liberty was quite photogenic and was regularly paraded out with the president. She was even trained to approach on cue whenever the president was in a heated discussion that the president wanted to end. The dog would show up, which would result in the person reaching down and talking to her. This would create a lull in the conversation, which would then give the president ample opportunity to end the discussion.
Quite the political animal was Liberty.
When she had that litter at the White House– an event that will probably never be repeated with any presidential dog, due to the current vogue among certain circles for trash-talking anyone who breeds a litter– the puppies were on display at several photo sessions and media events.
What is cuter than a golden retriever puppy?
Nothing.
And when the American public saw how cute they were and then saw how beautiful and intelligent their mother was, they had to have one.
It didn’t matter that Ford pardoned Nixon. That action didn’t tarnish these gold dogs.
And when one of the puppies, who was named Jerry, became a guide dog, the breed’s reputation was fully cemented into the popular imagination.
Gerald Ford can’t really be attacked for choosing a golden retriever for his own personal dog in the same way we’ve seen both Clinton and Obama attacked for their choices. Clinton supposedly chose a chocolate Labrador because the black ones didn’t photograph very well and the yellow ones were too photogenic. Obama, of course, has been attacked for taking a “fake rescue dog,” which was only a supposed breeder return. Obama, of course, infamous called his dog’s breed a “Portuguese water hound,” and his desire to own the breed seems to be nothing more than a payback to Senator Ted Kennedy, who was a long-time admirer of the breed.
Ford chose the dog he liked.
And the golden retriever’s meteoric rise in popularity in the United States began with Liberty’s arrival at the White House.
Extreme popularity has very real problems for any breed.
But I am not faulting Ford for wanting a golden retriever.
I am faulting those who lost their minds in choosing a dog for their families, encouraging insane fads within the breed and unscrupulous overproduction of dogs with questionable health and temperament.
Great post, I know exactly what you mean about the fads…
I owned a dalmatian (who looked a little like a mix with pitty.. but who knows) when I was a child. He was 3 or 4, and I 12 at the time the new live action 101 Dalmatians came out.
Next thing I knew, everyone wanted or had a dalmatian puppy. I had people coming up to me and him in the street all the time asking where he was from, if he was for sale etc.
Fortunatley he was a great example of why not to get a dalmatian. He was high strung, powerful and aggressive. He would growl and try to bite anyone that approached.
I was told by my mother’s then-boyfriend (who owned the dog) that he had been returned to the “breeder” 3 times prior to him purchasing him…
He was a great dog to me nonetheless.
From “1,001 Reasons to Love Dogs” – “Liberty… was not well housebroken, and at 3AM se needed to go out. The sleepy President donned his bathrobe and slippers and took Liberty to the south lawn of the White House. The Secret Service had secured the residence and the locked-out president and his dog tried several staircase entrances before they were detected trying to break in.”
There was another Golden named “Liberty” who was a detection dog at the Statue of Liberty.