Baxter ( – March 29, 2016) was the former first dog of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

who greeted visitors of

the Blaine House The Blaine House, also known as James G. Blaine House, is the official residence of the governor of Maine and their family. The executive mansion was officially declared the residence of the governor in 1919 with the name "Blaine House". It is ...

. Baxter, a

Jack Russel Terrier The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour. Small tan and white terriers that technically belong to oth ...

mix, was adopted by Paul LePage's daughter Lauren LePage in 2008 from an animal shelter in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The LePage family changed his name from the shelter-given name "Snickers" to "Baxter" following adoption. He moved to the Blaine House in 2011 when

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 74th Governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, LePage served two terms as a city councilor in Waterville, Maine, before being ...

became

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is Ja ...

. Baxter often welcomed daily visitors of the Blaine House, many of which were children. Baxter was also the subject of a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

written by Paula Benoit from April 2011 to June 2012, Blaine House Director and Assistant, to interest viewers in the Blaine House's history and current events. Each post featured photos of Baxter maintaining his role in the Blaine House, sometimes accompanied by text simulating Baxter's viewpoint on a Blaine House event. Baxter was also the subject of the book ''Baxter in the Blaine House'' and two

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

pages, each simulating Baxter's viewpoint on events. He died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at age 11 on March 29, 2016. His death was announced by Brent Littlefield, Paul LePage's political adviser, a day later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LePage, Baxter Individual dogs in the United States 2005 animal births 2016 animal deaths Maine culture