Once in a while, reporters in the field find themselves presented with the opportunity—or challenge—to interview a famous pup, or a four-legged friend that has just made the news, or simply a dog that’s finally had its day. I’ve gathered a few of these very important moments, captured in news photos below, from the past 90 years.
Sound Bites: Dogs on the Microphone
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A puppy bites a reporter's microphone as five puppies cloned from Trakr, a German shepherd search-and-rescue dog used to locate Ground Zero survivors after the September 11 attacks, are displayed to the press in Los Angeles on June 17, 2009. #
David McNew / Getty -
A dog barks into a megaphone at a Ukrainian zoo-rights rally in front of the mayor of Kiev's office on April 8, 2009. Protesters demanded that stray dogs be treated more humanely by city officials. #
Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty -
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Original caption from April 29, 1931: "'Rinty' at the Radio Station. All alert, Rin Tin Tin, famous canine of the films, awaits his cue to go on the air. Dramatized stories in which he is the central figure are broadcast from the NBC studios in Chicago each Thursday night. Movie cameras and microphones are all the same to him. They're serious and he's always ready for a feed after a strenuous rehearsal and show." #
Bettmann / Getty -
The singer Donny Osmond with a Chihuahua puppy that was presented to him by a crew member at the conclusion of his 500th Donny & Marie variety show at the Flamingo Las Vegas on March 23, 2011. #
David Becker / Getty -
Original caption from April 7, 1982: "Lassie, the canine star of television, has her day at a news conference here at the Los Angeles Press Club. She was put before the mikes after accepting the first Veterinary Pet Insurance policy to be issued to a dog in California." #
Bettmann / Getty -
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Peanut the dog, dressed in a Michigan State Spartans costume, turns away from a reporter's microphone outside Ford Field in Detroit before the semifinal game between Michigan State and Connecticut during the men's NCAA Final Four college-basketball tournament on April 4, 2009. #
Amy Sancetta / AP -
King, a wire fox terrier, leans toward a microphone during a media availability at Sardi's in New York on February 13, 2019. King won Best in Show at the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show the day before. #
Mark Lennihan / AP -
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The world heavyweight champion George Foreman listens as his shepherd dog, Daggo, barks into microphones during a news conference at Orly Airport in Paris on September, 12, 1974. Foreman was in transit from the United States to Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where was scheduled to meet Muhammad Ali in a title bout on September 24. #
Levy / AP -
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The TV reporter Gerd Ruge interviews Bastian, the English basset belonging to West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, in front of the West German Parliament in Bonn, Germany, on June 4, 1972. #
Klaus Schlagmann / AP -
Megan Rodriquez and her dog, Max, are interviewed by the Channel 5 U.K. reporter Paul Reancy prior to auditions for pets that look like celebrities at Universal Studios in Burbank, California, on February 15, 2001. Max, who was said to resemble the actor Sean Connery "because of his charm," was one of dozens of pets hoping to win a video spot in Animal Planet Live, a new attraction at Universal Studios. #
Vince Bucci / Newsmakers / Getty -
The Obama family dog, Bo, is surrounded by members of the press in the Rose Garden of the White House during President Barack Obama's departure to Saudi Arabia for the first stop on a trip to the Middle East and Europe on June 2, 2009. #
Brendan Smialowski / Getty -
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Riley, a 12-week-old Weimaraner puppy being trained as a working scent dog to detect pests that could damage artworks, is introduced to reporters at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on January 10, 2018. #
Brian Snyder / Reuters
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