Her Health Took a Licking, But Millie’s OK Now

The all’s-well was sounded at a White House press briefing Friday.

“Millie’s in good shape and back performing her functions as first dog,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater announced.

Millie’s health did not exactly trigger shock waves in a day otherwise filled with them, from Wall Street to the Persian Gulf. But it did raise some questions after President Bush told a Colorado audience Thursday that Barbara Bush was in Maine with their grandchildren and “a sick dog.”

Later, Bush told reporters that Millie was suffering from lead poisoning. “It’s a terrible thing,” he said.

But on Friday, Millie’s ailment was downgraded from lead poisoning to “acute lead exposure, much less serious,” said Jean Becker, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Bush. “In fact, the condition is basically already cleared up through the natural cleansing processes of the body.”

Fitzwater said a veterinarian thinks that Millie’s problem began when she walked through the solvent workers have been using to remove old paint from the south side of the White House.

“She then ingested the solvent, which caused this condition,” he said, adding that the solvent has been removed.

Becker said Millie’s only symptom was lethargy, first noticed several months ago.

“She is still a little lethargic,” Mrs. Bush told Becker on Friday.

Millie, who is “basically shy” and known to avoid crowds when she can get away with it, has an autobiography-of-sorts coming out Sept. 17. Titled “Millie’s Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush,” it was actually written by Mrs. Bush during her vacation in Kennebunkport, Me., a year ago.

In the book, Millie reportedly gives the inside scoop on a dog’s life at the top.