The new First Pooch is coming soon

During the last dog days of last summer, perhaps the biggest looming decision facing Barack Obama was choosing a dog for his daughters. Back when he ran for the presidency, he ran the one campaign he promised he couldn’t break at all: that when it was all over, no matter the outcome, his daughters could have a dog. And if they did end up on Pennsylvania Avenue, the pup certainly wouldn’t be the first dog or pet in the White House, so he’d have a long legacy of presidential pets to live up to and live up to.

“Things have changed since the days when George Washington could name his dogs Drunkard, Tipler and Tipsy. Warren Harding’s Airedale Laddie Boy had a valet and sat in a hand-carved chair at cabinet meetings. Ulysses S Grant told his White House staff that if anything happened to his son’s beloved Newfoundland, they would all be fired. Teddy Roosevelt owned, along with a badger, a toad, some snakes, and a pig, a bull terrier. named Pete who once tore the pants of a French ambassador.Cousin Franklin’s the dog Fala had a press secretary, starred in a movie, and was made an honorary soldier in the army.George HW Bush’s springer spaniel Millie, wrote a book , which sold more copies than the president’s autobiography. And then, of course, there was Damas. Harry Truman reportedly once said, “Do you want a friend in Washington? Buy yourself a dog.” (By Nancy Gibbs/TIME)

Choosing the right dog is hard enough as it is. But adding the fact that you may be the First Family and need a hypoallergenic race adds to the difficulty of the process. So the American Kennel Club (AKC), hoping to help ensure the 23rd purebred dog enters the White House, conducted a survey. The public could even vote online, per the AKC poll, for the type of dog they thought the Obamas should have, and other groups sponsored similar polls. Since his first daughter, Malia, has allergies, the AKC limited the ballot choice to five hypoallergenic breeds. He suggests the Bichon Frize with the history of it as a companion to French nobles, implying the breed’s qualification for the White House. But maybe it wasn’t the exact image the Obamas were looking for. He recommended the miniature schnauzer as an excellent watchdog, for a little extra security (although probably not necessary), and the soft-coated wheaten terror with its sweet temperament as a positive goodwill ambassador, though “must be handled firmly.” and consistency.” ”, which also may not have been the ideal characteristic choice for Change’s candidate.

However, the AKC’s preference for purebreds squandered the obvious stellar opportunity for the Obamapup. Surely a self-proclaimed post-partisan reformer, vowing to ‘cross the aisle’, would gravitate toward an amazingly mixed mutt, rescued shelter dog, or at least one of the American Canine Hybrid Club’s 500+ registered hybrids. After all, the hybrid or designer dog was bred to give you the best of both breeds: a Labradoodle, a Peke-a-Poo, a Bagle (half basset, half beagle) or a Chiweenie (half Chihuahua, half dachshund). ). A candidate looking for an intimidating pulpit might even like the Bullypit (a bulldog/pitbull mix), or could opt for a Sharmatian (part Chinese Shar-Pei, part Dalmatian) and get all east and west, black. and black. -white thing happening in a single dog.

There was even a suggestion during the campaign that their decision on a type of dog, if they don’t get it before the election, should be brought forward, given the competition from the ‘McCainines’. An AP-Yahoo News poll last June (2008) found that pet owners favored John McCain over Barack Obama, 42% to 37%, with an even larger margin among dog owners. One survey participant explained that he “tells you that they are responsible for at least something, taking care of something.” However, in the case of the McCains, “a lot of things.” McCain’s menagerie includes a large number of fish, some parakeets, Cuff and Link turtles, Oreo the cat, and four dogs, including Lucy and Desi terriers. Obama could take solace in his 14-point lead among those who don’t own pets, except that they form a definite minority of American households.

The Obamas were previously warned that while it was good, they were definitely looking for another major life change by getting a dog for the first time. “A dog was never an option in the apartment where I grew up,” Obama said, “and my daughters knew that training the dog they wanted was nothing compared to training me to accept one.”

Well, now two and a half months have passed since the presidency and there is still no first dog, and it seems that the whole world, at least the pet-loving world, is waiting for his election and the arrival of the first dog. First Lady Michelle’s word is April, after her family’s Spring Break vacation, and possibly a Labradoodle or Portuguese Water Dog (or bloodhound)…and not a puppy (which could mean that in the end the AKC did get their next thoroughbred into the White House after all.) The odds are on the Portuguese Water Dog, highly recommended by Senator Ted Kennedy, whose niece Caroline got a pony while in the White House. He has two. His fur is single layered and does not shed. In most cases, these dogs are hypoallergenic, making them a good choice for those who have allergies.

So, there will be a new dog frolicking on the South Lawn at the end of this month.

The next obvious question for speculation, of course, is the perfect name for the next first dog. Some suggest the Obamas should only have two, one for each of the girls, and call them Hope and Change. Of course, there are others who suggest having two dogs, but calling them Smoke and Mirror or Fear and “Quo”, for Status Quo, would be the better name, but that would be a topic for another type of blog or article.