BUSHY BARNEY

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In The News
(January-April 2003)

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Gone Fishin': Q: What have you been doing at the ranch this weekend?
THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. (Laughter.) I'm enjoying myself.
Q: Someone said home projects.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, home projects. A little fishing. Nothing better than fishing with your dad, and Barney.
Q: What did Barney catch?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Barney only caught that which I caught. (Laughter.)...--President Bush, talking with reporters at Fort Hood, Texas, 4/20/03.

Barney Chat?: Senior Bush administration officials (including the first Scotty, we hope?) will soon be chatting up a cyber-storm at the White House Web site. Jimmy Orr, the White House Internet media director, "said the White House has high hopes for its entry into interactivity -- mentioning the Web chats in the same breath as its Web site's blockbuster hit, 'Barney Cam,' which features a camera that follows the president's Scottish terrier, Barney. 'In the online tours' -- another new feature -- 'and Barney Cam and all the different video available, we see the power of multimedia.'"--Washington Post, 4/16/03.

Lost in the Translation?: A less-than-flattering report from Havana in Granma International identifies President Bush's two dogs as Barney and Scotty. It shows a picture of Barney being chased by a White House videographer, but the caption says its "Scotty." The report critcizes the White House for publicizing the presidential pets while "in Baghdad, children are trembling."--BB, 2/21/03.

Snow Dogs: "On the White House lawn, President Bush's terrier and spaniel dogpaddled happily through snow that rose as high as their snouts.

"The line between cozy and crazy is a thin one, doubtless buried somewhere beneath the deep drifts that swallow Scottie dogs whole and drive restless humans to desperate measures..."--The Washington Post, reporting on the Blizzard of '03, 2/17-2/18/03.

Good Housekeeper: Barney's on the cover of Good Housekeeping magazine's February issue. Oh, and so is First Lady Laura Bush. (She provides a lap for the First Scottie to sit on.) The story's billed: 'Laura Bush: Her private passions, what she loves best about her husband and her hopeful message to a nervous nation.'--BB, 1/17/03.

Sad News: Barney's mom has passed away. Coors, owned by EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, was put to sleep Jan. 9, after a battle with cancer. She was seven years old. The news came to light when Whitman, the former governor of New Jersey, notified the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about Coors' death. The animal rights group had planned to feature Coors in billboard ads targeting the EPA chief for what PETA said was Whitman's support of chemical testing using animals. The group reversed its plans after hearing of Coors' passing.

Coors, named after the beer, gave birth to Barney Sept. 30, 2000, at Pontefract Farm, Oldwick, Hunterdon County, N.J. Whitman gave Barney to President Bush in December 2000. The president, in turn, presented First Lady Laura Bush with Barney as a birthday gift.--BB, 1/16/03

Back to Nature: "When President Bush -- wearing faded jeans, a baseball cap and muddy running shoes -- drove his truck up to a group of reporters Thursday, he could not have been farther from Washington. 'Anybody interested in a nature walk?" he asked before hopping out of the pickup with Barney, his Scottish terrier. Bush and Barney led the group on a four-mile trek around the 1,600-acre spread he has dubbed Prairie Chapel Ranch."-- Houston Chronicle, 1/3/03.

Want Fries With That?: "Diane Ewing of Irving gave the Bushes some dog-training advice. Her own Scottish terrier is a Barney look-alike. 'I said Barney would behave much better if you got him in obedience,' Ewing recounted after the chat."-- Houston Chronicle, reporting on President Bush's New Year's eve visit to a Crawford, Texas, hamburger joint, 1/1/03.