Ten Men And Their Dogs Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Noakes

The children's programme "Blue Peter" was first broadcast in 1958. The concept was that the presenters took part in events and interviewed guests in the studio. In the 1960s, an appearance on the show was welcomed by pop groups for the exposure it offered.

The presenters generally had pets in the studio and which lived at home with them. Shep was a Border Collie who was the companion of John Noakes and joined the show in 1971. Both Shep and Noakes left the show in 1978 and both appeared in the series "Go With Noakes" until 1980. Shep died in 1987.

Answer: John Adams

Not a trick question for those who know their Presidents Of The United States: George Washington was the first and was a great dog lover, but he never actually lived in the White House. That honour fell to the second president, John Adams and wife Abigail, who had two mixed-breed pups, Juno and Satan.

The fifth president, James Monroe, was the next to have a dog in the White House, his daughter Maria's pet spaniel.

The presence of FDOTUS - First Dog Of The United States - really took off with Warren G. Harding whose Airedale Terrier Laddie Boy became a personality in his own right from 1921 to 1923. He was photographed in the Press and birthday parties were held for him. When Harding played golf, Laddie Boy would retrieve wayward shots.

Answer: Snowy

Snowy appeared in the first Tintin adventure "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" in 1929. Produced by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé, Tintin was a reporter and adventurer who got into a lot of scrapes and adventures and appeared in various media until 1976.

Snowy was a fox terrier. Splash and Coco were the companions of this quiz author.

Answer: Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was a great dog lover and is thought to have kept up to 150 at one time or another. Peritas, parentage uncertain, was known for his fighting prowess.

While the accounts are shaky, one story has it that Peritas protected his master from an elephant by biting its lip. Another account tells of Peritas saving his master who was trapped by enemies in battle by holding them off until relief came. Peritas was said to have been mortally wounded.

After his death, Alexander named an Indian city Peritas in his memory.

Answer: Paul McCartney

McCartney wrote "Martha My Dear" in 1969 for his Old English Sheepdog. The song appeared on "The White Album" in 1968.

McCartney got Martha in 1966 at the suggestion of his then girlfriend Jane Asher. Martha appeared in several photo shoots for the Fab Four and Macca.

Answer: Old Yeller

"Old Yeller" was a 1957 Disney live action movie that starred Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, and Beverly Washburn. It was based on a book by Fred Gipson.

The dog was a Labrador Retriever mix, and the name came from the dialect pronunciation of Yellow. In one scene, Yeller saved the young boy from an angry mother bear.

Answer: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks starred in the 1989 comedy caper "Turner and Hooch". Hooch was played by a Dogue De Bordeaux called Beasley.

Hanks played Scott Turner, a cop who transferred to San Francisco for some excitement. His first encounter with Hooch was at a crime scene, where the dog was a witness to a murder. The two were thrown together and, of course, Hooch identified the murderer, although it took some time for Turner to confront him.

No spoilers here, if you want to know how it all ended, watch the movie.

Answer: Eccles

At the time this quiz was written, Ken Barlow was the longest running character in a soap opera worldwide. He had been played by William Roache from the opening show on December 9, 1960.

Ken Barlow was often derided as the most boring character on British television, yet in the course of the soap he was married four times and had 27 girlfriends; often wives and girlfriends were concurrent. Indeed, it was through Eccles that Barlow met one of those girlfriends.

Eccles was a Border Terrier who was left in one will to Barlow's mother-in-law Blanche Hunt, who in turn left Eccles to Ken's wife Deirdre, and she became Ken's companion when Deirdre died (Are you paying attention here?).

Eccles appeared between 2006 and 2020. She died on the show. In real life, Eccles died in April 2020.

Answer: Lobo

"Me and you and a dog named Boo; Travellin' and livin' off the land;
Me and you and a dog named Boo; How I love bein' a free man..."

"Me And You And A Dog Named Boo" was a Hot 100 number five for Roland Kent LaVoie - stage name Lobo - in 1971. The following year Lobo had a Hot 100 number two with "I'd Love You to Want Me".

Answer: Winston Churchill

Churchill had brown miniature poodles Rufus, and Rufus II. The II, he insisted, was silent. Both were buried at Churchill's home at Chartwell. When Rufus II died, Churchill referred to him as "my closest confidant... who heard everything".

It is highly unlikely that Chairman Mao had a dog, at least while in power. During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s the keeping of dogs as pets was banned in China. Working dogs were allowed. After Mao's death in 1976, dogs as pets became known again. (The western spelling of the Chinese leader's name is used here.)

Gandhi, meanwhile, was not much of a dog lover either. While he insisted that those who had dogs should keep them under strict control, dogs that could not be cared for "should be shot".

While John F. Kennedy was reportedly allergic to dogs, he took Charlie, a Welsh terrier, into the White House with him. The Kennedys generally had a menagerie of animals of all kinds, shapes and sizes.