LADDIE BOY DELIVERS MORNING PAPERS TO PRESIDENT HARDING
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding's Airedale Terrier*, Laddie Boy**, passed his first test as "confidential messenger and envoy extraordinary."
Laddie Boy waited, tail wagging, outside the door of the White House dining room with the morning papers in his mouth. When the door opened, he ran up to the President's side who then graciously accepted them.
This event was not unplanned, however, as Laddie Boy had been "in training" for this test "for several days."
*Airedale Terriers originated in the valley of the River Aire in Yorkshire, England. They are the largest of the terrier breeds. The British military used them as sentries and couriers in WWI.
**Laddie Boy (1920-1929) was the first First Dog to be regularly covered in the national press. After Harding's death in 1923, Mrs. Harding gave LB to her favorite secret service agent.
SOURCE
"Laddie Boy Thrills Over His New Stint As Paper Carrier," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 11, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
