Pictures (the first two are of Bo)
Ok, I’d seen other pictures of that breed that made me think it was an ugly breed of dog, but darned if that isn’t one cute dog!
Bah. I was hoping they would really go through with the idea of getting a dog from a shelter or rescue organization, to set a good example. Now a lot of people will be looking at breeders for portugese water dogs. 
It says in the article that the Kennedy’s re-homed the dog from another family because the dog “didn’t fit” with them, so at least it wasn’t directly from a breeder - assuming that said family didn’t happen to be breeders, of course!
That was the name of my much-loved mutt, who died in January.
I knew the Obama’s had eminently good tastes, and this confirms it.
i had a feeling that kennedy would be involved when they decided on a water dog.
lavenderviolet, there was an article about the woman who the biden’s got their dog from. she had death threats over it. she said she would never have one of her dogs go to someone famous again.
His name is Bo?!
Oh darn, so is my husband’s. Let the jokes begin.
Apparently (according to the Daily Mail, at least - not the best news source, I admit), Malia has allergies and Portuguese Water Dogs are one of few breeds that don’t shed.
President Obama mentioned her allergies when the promised puppy was first mentioned.
I understood it’s the saliva and skin are the allergy triggers, not shed hair itself.
I’ve heard about the allergy issue before. I can understand not wanting a shedding breed (that’s why I had a poodle for many years). I’m also definitely glad that it wasn’t directly from a breeder.
I just think it would have been nicer if they had made a point of getting a dog from a shelter. Even though it isn’t a common breed, Petfinder.com has 13 listings for portugese water dogs presently (and I’m sure others are out there who need homes who just aren’t listed that someone would be happy to bring to DC for the president!). It would have sent a good message to people to not treat pets as disposable commodities.
Rescue dogs often have issues - they can be great dogs, but they are often older, have often been tramatized. Apparently Bo has spent a lot of time getting properly trained - and when you consider a dog running around a historic home, a well trained dog is important. The President promised the kids a “puppy.” So you have to find a young dog that qualifies as a puppy, that has had time to learn not to piddle on the antique carpets, that is one of the few breeds that don’t trigger allergies, in a timeline that is going to seem to young girls like you kept your promise in a prompt manner.
It doesn’t seem to me that a rescue dog was a realistic attribute given the other issues they had to work with. I am sure they tried, because they knew they’d get criticized for not getting a rescue dog. But the other attributes were simply more important.
My PWDs.
Guinness: 10 year old male
Bailey: 9 year old female (a bit more sedentary, and thus on the chubby side)
Ugly? Really?
PWDs look fine so long as they aren’t groomed in that goofy lion cut.
I didn’t know much about the breed, and only recently realized that they can have a lot of white on them. For some reason I was glad to see the Obamas got one with white.
My understanding is that they are extremely inteligent and energetic dogs. I hope they realize the effort required in keeping such an animal. Wondering if the White House might not be a better envioronment for more of a couch potato…
Yes, my understanding is that the saliva is responsible for most of dog allergies. But my 2 goldens will definitely attest to the fact that a non/low-shedding dog results in considerably less dust in the house - another significant irritant for most allergic folk.
I get the feeling that the Obamas are a pretty high energy family. And that the White House has some staff associated with it so the President doesn’t have to take poopy scoop duty.
Bo. BO. B.O.? They named the dog after Barack?
(I know a lot of White House services are charged back to the President - his laundry bill does not get paid for by tax dollars, for instance. And while floral arrangements for the public areas and state events are covered, the White House florist bills the family for personal flowers. I wonder if poopy scooping and dog walking are charge backs? I’m willing to bet they are.)
Yes, and it would be rather embarrassing for the Obamas to give back or put up for re-adoption a dog that didn’t fit in with the White House. This is a family dog, but under the media spotlight that is 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, everything has a political angle.
Portuguese Water Dogs are - for now - pretty rare. A friend who owns two and is active in a chapter of the PWD club told me the waiting list to rescue one is about two years long. So at this point it’s near impossible to adopt one instead of getting it from a breeder. I’m sure their popularity will explode now, with the negative things that come with that, but there’s not much that can be done.
I see Bo is about six months old. Given the amount of historic items and valuables in the White House and the fact that these dogs can get really nuts, it’s a good move to get one that is a little older.
Apparently the Obamas are making a donation to the DC Humane Society in a gesture of appeasement. But I agree that they definitely needed to get a dog that can behave around antiques.
I like your dogs, but I feel the way Dinsdale does, as long as they don’t have that stupid poodle cut, they’re fine. That’s what I don’t like, and I hope the Obamas don’t subject Bo to that. Your dogs look so cuddly! Are they hard to groom with such curly hair?
Here’s a new picture of Bo with BO (and no, it wasn’t named after him, it’s just an odd coincidence that the freepers are loving) running down the East Wing Colonnade (the door to the White House theater is to their right). There’s a video too.
Man, that is one lucky dog!