Pushinka
{{Short description|Dog given to John F. Kennedy by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev}}
{{Infobox animal
|name=Pushinka (Пушинка)
|parents=*{{flagicon|USSR}} Strelka
|nationality={{flagicon|USSR}} Soviet Union
|children=*The pupniks
- Butterfly
- Streaker
- White Tips
- Blackie
|mate={{flagicon|USA}} Charlie
|owners=* {{flagicon|USA}} Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- {{flagicon|USA}} John F. Kennedy
|gender=Female
|image=Pushinka, USSR "Immigration" Photo.jpg
|breed=Mixed
|species=Dog
|birth_date={{Birth date|1960|11|30}}}}
Pushinka ({{Langx|ru|Пушинка|lit=Fluffy}}) was a dog given by the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, in 1961. Pushinka was the daughter of Strelka, who had travelled into space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2.{{cite book|author1=Colin Burgess|author2=Chris Dubbs|title=Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSdHVIpsrKkC|date=5 July 2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-387-49678-8|page=207}}
Pushinka arrived at the Kennedy White House after Jacqueline Kennedy had spoken to Khrushchev about Strelka at a state dinner in Vienna. Mrs. Kennedy asked about Strelka's puppies, and one was subsequently sent by Khrushchev to the White House.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24837199|title=Pushinka: A Cold War puppy the Kennedys loved|author=Alison Gee|date=6 January 2014|work=BBC News|access-date=20 January 2021}} Pushinka was examined by the Central Intelligence Agency at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center over fears that she might be concealing an implanted listening device. Pushinka was x-rayed, screened with a magnetometer, and inspected by sonogram. She was found to be free of subversive devices.{{cite book|author=Stanley Coren|title=Why We Love The Dogs We Do: How To Find The Dog That Matches Your Personality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOcnpwLXucEC|date=11 December 2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4711-0940-9|page=71}}
The White House electrician and kennel manager, Traphes Bryant, trained Pushinka with peanuts to climb up a ladder to Caroline Kennedy's playhouse and slide down the other side.{{cite web|title=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum: Pushinka (White House Dog) and Her Puppies|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1963/Month%2007/Day%2009/JFKWHP-1963-07-09-C|publisher=JFK Library|access-date=20 January 2021}}
Descendants
Pushinka became pregnant by one of the Kennedys' dogs, Charlie, and gave birth to four puppies, whom the president jokingly called pupniks.[http://space.about.com/library/weekly/aa120802a.htm Bark At the Moon: A Short History of Soviet Canine Cosmonauts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428124114/http://space.about.com/library/weekly/aa120802a.htm |date=2008-04-28 }} From About.com Space / Astronomy. Accessed 8 July 2007 The White House received 5,000 requests from members of the public asking for Pushinka's puppies. Two of the puppies, Butterfly and Streaker, were given away to children in the Midwest. The other two puppies, White Tips and Blackie, stayed at the Kennedy home on Squaw Island and later were given away to family friends, one puppy to Patricia Kennedy and her husband, Peter Lawford.{{cite web|title=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Reference Desk: Pets|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Pets.htm|publisher=JFK Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822052209/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Pets.htm|access-date=20 January 2021|archive-date=2006-08-22}} Pushinka subsequently became irascible, and "a little nippy" according to Caroline Kennedy, which she attributed to her upbringing in a scientific laboratory.
Descendants of Pushinka are living in 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/belka-strelka-first-dogs-survive-space-moscow-space-museum-2015-8|title=I traveled to Russia and met the first dogs to ever survive space in this rare museum|last=Mosher|first=Dave|website=Business Insider|access-date=2019-10-29}}
File:John F. Kennedy Jr. with puppy. Hyannisport, MA, Squaw Island - NARA - 194256.jpg|John F. Kennedy Jr. with one of Pushinka's puppies at Squaw Island, Hyannis Port, 14 August 1963
File:Photograph of Kennedy Family with Dogs During a Weekend at Hyannisport - NARA - 194258.jpg|President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. with two of Pushinka's puppies and their other family dogs, at Squaw Island, Hyannis Port, 14 August 1963
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{United States presidential pets}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}
{{Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}
Category:1961 in American politics
Category:Animals as diplomatic gifts
Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States
Category:Soviet Union–United States relations
Category:United States presidential dogs