Ex-First Dog Millie Dies

Millie, the former “first dog” whose best-selling “Millie’s Book” gave a humorous dog’s-eye view of the Bush White House and raised nearly $900,000 to promote literacy, died Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine. She was 12.

“President and Mrs. Bush are somewhat in a state of shock, because it happened so quickly,” spokesman Jim McGrath, said of the springer spaniel’s death.

He said Millie had been taken to a veterinarian Sunday near the Bushes’ Kennebunkport summer home. A diagnosis was not available. The Bushes could not be reached for comment.

Barbara Bush actually wrote the 1990 best-selling book ostensibly “dictated” by Millie.

Millie gained considerable attention when she gave birth to four puppies in the White House on March 17, 1989.