President-elect Barack Obama has promised change. He has also promised his daughters a puppy. With the right dog, he can make good on both.
From Thomas Jefferson's briards to George W. Bush's Scottish terriers, the White House doghouse has been stuffed with austere purebreds. The 44th president appears destined for a different kind of dog. Perhaps he'll choose one from a shelter, where there are "mutts like me," he said yesterday at his first news conference, addressing both the weighty family dog issue and the economic crisis.
But 10-year-old Malia Obama, who has allergies, has done the research and concluded that the "goldendoodle," a low-shedding poodle/golden retriever blend, is "the optimal dog," Obama said while campaigning in Iowa last year.
At the news conference, Obama acknowledged that his family must reconcile those criteria.
"Whether we're going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue in the Obama household," he said.
First dog-elect mania kicked into overdrive with Obama's acceptance speech Tuesday night in Chicago's Grant Park, where he told daughters Malia and Sasha, 7, "You've earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House."
It's a family decision, but this being a democracy, his fellow Americans also want a vote.
"Wish there was something like 'primaries' for selection/nomination for the 'first puppy,' an iconic member of the first family," one New York Times reader wrote yesterday, responding to one of the newspaper's numerous dog blog entries and articles.
The Chicago Tribune has weighed in with an editorial, urging citizens to let the Obama girls pick their own puppy. Thousands have opined on their personal blogs and at news sites. There's an "obamafamilydog.com" Web site devoted to the issue. This summer, in an American Kennel Club online poll, 42,000 picked a poodle as the preferred presidential pet.
"This is a very, very, very important decision," said Claire McLean, founder of the Presidential Pets Museum, which moved recently from Maryland to Virginia. "There hasn't been a president without a pet since the early days. It'll be interesting to see what they decide. And of course, everyone will have a different take on it."
If the Obamas fulfill their campaign promise to use a shelter or rescue organization, it would have a "huge impact" on pet adoption across the country, predicted Jennifer Mead-Brause, director of Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter.
