Barney (dog)

Barney Bush (birth name Bernard Bush; September 30, 2000 – February 1, 2013) was a Scottish Terrier owned by former U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush. Barney had his own official web page which redirected to an extension of the White House website. Barney was born in New Jersey and he was often referred to as the "First Dog".^{[citation needed]}

Barney's mother, Coors, was owned by former Environmental Protection Agency Director and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. The dog's father is known as Kelly. Miss Beazley, the Bushes' other Scottish terrier, is Barney's niece through his half-brother, Clinton.^{[citation needed]}

Barney is said to have enjoyed playing with volleyballs and golf balls, and enjoyed observing games of horseshoes. There are various web sites across the Internet devoted to Barney. Most notably, he was the main star of the White House's annual Christmas videos during the Bush administration.^{[citation needed]}

Barney was featured in several films that go by the name of Barneycam and are made by the White House Staff, and star both Barney himself and Miss Beazley, the other presidential canine. These movies can be found on the George W. Bush archived White House web site.^{[citation needed]}

Barney was evoked in a famous Bush quote cited by Bob Woodward about the Iraq War in State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III (ISBN 0743272234) and repeated during a 60 Minutes interview:

"Late last year he had key Republicans up to the White House to talk about the war. And said, 'I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me.' Barney is his dog," Woodward says. "My work on this leads to lots of people who spend hours, days with the president."

White House official Karl Rove remarked shortly after his resignation that Barney was "a lump." Barney has also been criticized by Russian president Vladimir Putin who feels a world leader should own large robust dogs, not smaller breeds such as the Scottish Terrier.^{[citation needed]} At a later date, when Putin introduced Bush to Koni, his black labrador, Putin is reported to have remarked that Koni is "(b)igger, tougher, stronger, faster, meaner, than Barney."

On November 27, 2006, Barney was featured in an article in satirical newspaper The Onion titled "Troop Morale Boosted By Surprise Visit From First Dog". The article described a fictitious visit by Barney to troops in Iraq.