Yeah, he has to do the mundane stuff like filling his Cabinet, naming a Chief of Staff and starting a file of Scotus appointments, but he has a really big job ahead of him. He has to buy the kids a puppy when they move to their new digs.
What kind of dog fits into a young family in the White House?
I really hope they pick out a mutt from a local animal shelter.
Postin’ “me too,” like some brain-dead AOLer.
Perhaps he should get a moose, as a symbol of reaching across the aisle.
Pit bull.
naw, just kiddin’.
Anybody besides me think it’s freakin’ rude to the White House staff to do this? Maybe he asked first, but I can’t help but think there were a bunch of glassy-eyed smiles in D.C. last night…
It’d be cool if foreign heads of state offered him puppies from their respective countries. Horst Kohler could send a dachshund, Hu Jintao could send a pug, Gordon Brown could send a bulldog, Felipe Calderon a chihuahua, whoever runs Canada could send a pupsicle…
I kid, I kid our beloved neighbors to the north! How about a Canadian Eskimo dog?
America has already chosen the poodle for the Obamas
Hopefully it’s a standard poodle and not one of those annoying tiny ones.
Haven’t there been plenty of First Dogs? Or do you mean the puppy-ish-ness?
I vote for a beagle-ish dog, from a shelter.
He has a couple young children who’ve been wanting a puppy. He’s not the first parent to agree to getting a pet for their kids and in this case he probably feels they deserve a treat since their lives are going to change radically.
Do you seriously think the staff should get a veto? If so, why?
I hate dogs, but I don’t think it’s rude. His kids are asked to live there; the staff of the White House Residence is employed to take care of the residence. Dogs in the White House are hardly unprecedented; both Presidents Clinton & Nixon had dogs. How can asking his future staff to DO THEIR JOBS be rude–and giving them a two-and-a-half month heads-up–be rude?
I was imagining the original conversation with his kids. Barack to the daughters: “Now you’re going to have to go through a lot with the media during the campaign and you’re not going to see me a lot. And if I win this thing, we’re going to have to move and the media attention will be worse. But if I win and you’re good, you can have a puppy.”
Ech, no way. I’d be very disappointed if they wound up getting some ridiculous purebred, especially a freakin’ poodle. Who cares what the American Kennel Club thinks? One more vote for a rescue mutt. 
My brother has two West Highland Terriers that are purebreds, but he got them from a Westie-specific rescue group (and I find the idea of breed-specific rescue groups hilarious for some reason). So if you want, you can have both a purebred and a rescued animal. The only problem is that both dogs came with their own problems. One tends to piddle when she’s nervous but I can’t remember the other’s problems.
One of the daughters has allergies that complicate matters. A rescued mutt, as much as I love mine, isn’t going to be reliably allergy-friendly. I voted for the wheaten, but I’ve never met a bad standard poodle except for the stupid haircuts. I’m sure the Obamas can choose for themselves.
I’d love that, too, to be honest.
Whatever they choose, I’m sure the first consideration is going to be what’s most appropriate for their little girls.
Not to mention the current president - Bush has two. The White House staff has been dealing with dogs there for the past 16 years.
I thought President Bush had dogs as well, but I wasn’t certain and was too lazy to check.
You’d actually have to go all the way back to McKinley before finding a president who didn’t own a dog.
I think they should get a female dog and name her Maverick.
“You’re my bitch now, Maverick!”
I love you, Green Bean!