Dancing with the Stars competitor and Extra host and Maria Menounos is a dedicated animal advocate and mom to four pooches herself. Her Bichon Frises are named Baby and Benjamin, and being of Grecian heritage, her larger rescue dogs are named after Greek gods — Apollo, a white German Shepherd and standard poodleAthena.
Menounos told Modern Dog magazine how she and Athena came together: “I was doing a segment about puppy mills for the Today Show. As we pulled up to this shelter that had rescued dogs from a local puppy mill, I looked at my producer and made a pact with him that I would not take a dog home. So we decided we would do all the interviews outside. And who walks by me for her walk, but Athena! She was in rough shape. She was at the puppy mill for five years. She was a breeding female stuck in an over-crowded kennel. She just came over and collapsed in my arms and… she was my dog. I flew her from Pennsylvania to California. She’s an incredible girl.”
So if it weren’t annoying enough that Taylor Swift is pretty and talented, she also has to be funny and smart AND have a cat with those same attributes? In this YouTube clip she posted, she has a serious conversation with her Scottish Fold cat Meredith about how voting for the Academy of Country Music “Entertainer of the Year” Award voting works.
Rapper/actor 50 Cent appeared on ABC’s The View this week and explained the origins of the name Oprah Winfree, the moniker he gave to his adorable Miniature Schnauzer mix. Host Sherri Shepherd wondered if the name meant he was calling the original Oprah a bitch or rather that he loved Oprah so much that he named his dog after her. Turned out it was the former. “I thought Oprah didn’t like hip-hop culture,” he admitted.
Meanwhile, though, the spunky little Ms. Winfree has her own Twitter account @OprahTheDog, with more than 12,000 followers. And the voice, provided by 50 himself, is pretty hilarious, though filled with expletives. Here’s the cleanest post we could find, attached to this pic: “I’m pissed! These fools dressed me up!” LMTO! (Laughing my Tail Off!)
Though Britain’s bonny Prince William and his wife, Duchess Kate, had intended to keep the name of their new Cocker Spaniel puppy private, it didn’t take long for the dog’s name to pop up in the press. The beautiful black pup’s name is Lupo, which means “wolf” in Italian. There’s still no word whether Lupo is a boy or a girl, but it fits either sex.
The Royal Puppy, Lupo
Prince William lost his beloved black LabWidgeon several years ago, and of course, his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II is known for her pack of Corgis, named Monty, Willow and Holly and Dorgis (a Daschund/Corgi mix): Cider, Candy and Vulcan. Vulcan, huh? Perhaps Her Majesty is a fan of Mr. Spock on Star Trek? Dorgis do have pointy ears…
The lovely and talented Jennifer Aniston visited both the Ellen show and The Tonight Show last week and revealed that she and her current boyfriend, Justin Theroux, had recently adopted a pit bull mix from a shelter (yay!), and named the lucky pup Sophie, currently ranked No. 8 on PetBabyNames.com’s Most Popular Dog Names list.
But she had a doggone good reason. “I was almost walking out with three puppies. That’s why we named her Sophie cause it was Sophie’s choice. I was crying — it was so hard!” We know the feeling — we want to rescue all the pets when we visit a shelter. But giving just one dog or cat a loving home is still saving a life and making a big difference.
Sophie joins sister Dolly, Jennifer’s German Shepherd, in their pack. Sadly, Jennifer had to say goodbye to best pal Norman last year.
If you’re looking for that perfect pet name, there’s no better place to get some golden inspiration than the 2012 Academy Awards.
And of course, the first name on everyone’s lips will be The Artist’sUggie, the rescued red-carpet star whose name is deservedly bound to be at the top of everyone’s Most Popular Pet Name list for years to come — including ours. Other animal stand-outs this year — both for great names and great performances — would have to be Cosmo (Beginners) and Crystal, the scene-stealing Capuchin Monkey from Zookeeper, The Hangover Part II and We Bought a Zoo, who just happens to share a name with this year’s Oscar telecast host Billy Crystal.
Uggie on the Red Carpet
But here are a few others you might not have thought of. For example, what about Oscar himself? Works great for a cat or a dog — especially one with a golden-tinted coat.
Then of course, there are the stars themselves. Among the nominees, you’ve got great monikers like Clooney (as in George) and Rooney (as in Mara — or Mickey, for that matter). Viola is great for a fan of The Help star or the stringed instrument. You’ve got wonderful character names like Skeeter and Minny from The Help too.
The nominated films provide plenty of popular pet name ideas as well. Hugo would have to be right up there. It fits our criteria of being easy for your pet to hear and understand, and ends with the popular “O” sound. Rango — up for Best Animated feature — is a good pick for similar reasons. Finally, how about Tinker? And if you’ve got a pack of four, you could add “Tailor, Soldier and Spy” too.
Between the Super Bowl commercials, The Voice and the Puppy Bowl with Kitten Half-Time, today’s TV lineup couldn’t have been much better for dog and cat lovers. Our favorite pet names of the day were Fumble, the adorable terrier-chihuahua mix from the spcaLA, named MVP of Animal Planet’s eighth annual Puppy Bowl; Purrfect, the white Persian cat that comfortably occupied Cee Lo Green‘s lap during parts of The Voice; and finally, we love Weego, the rescue dog (real name Nugget), and star of Bud Light’s fantastic new ad campaign. For each like Weego gets on Facebook, Anheuser Busch will donate up to $250,000 to the Animal Rescue Foundation. Love!
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has already been to the Super Bowl five times, won three of them and was MVP twice — but he and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen are definitely their dogs’ Most Valuable People.
Gisele is known for going just about everywhere with her YorkieVida, including neighborhood bike rides, while Tom is equally devoted to his dog, a pit bull-mix named Lua. In fact, Lua appeared alongside Brady in a recent advertising campaign the QB did for UGG shoes… and hey, if the football thing doesn’t work out, I’m sure Gisele can hook this handsome pair up with more modeling work.
Actress Jane Lynch of Glee got her big break by playing a dog handler in one of the greatest dog movies ever — Best in Show — so it’s no surprise that she’s mom to a menagerie of her own, which includes a Wheaten terrier named Georgie, Lhasa ApsoOlivia, and tabby cat Riley.
But just before the holidays, Lynch and her wife, Lara Embry and their daughter Haden were out shopping in Studio City, CA and came across a sidewalk adoption fair sponsored by Kinder4Rescue.org. The trio was unable to resist rescuing a sweet male puppy they named FrancisWilloughbyLynch Embry.
A dog named Francis Willoughby Lynch Embry
He’s reported to be an Aussie Shepherd mix, but with those handsome spots he also could have some Cathoula Hound in there. Regardless, the fact that she rescued rocks! Congrats to the Lynch Embrys!
Mar 29, 2012 11:54 AM by admin
