"Someone that important is saying to everybody, 'Shelter dogs are good dogs, too,' " she said.
As their three daughters played yesterday with Gumbo, a 2-year-old brown shepherd mix, at the Baltimore shelter, Kevin and Nikkie Preston said they would be thrilled to see the president adopt.
Seven-year-old Tabitha crouched beside the rescue dog, who had pins in his left rear leg from a recent operation, and nodded in approval as she pet him. The Prestons signed the paperwork to adopt Gumbo last night.
Kevin Preston urged the president to bring his wife and his girls to "take the dog for a test drive" before adopting.
But about that goldendoodle ...
Mead-Brause said poodle mixes are "breeds of choice" right now, meaning they don't regularly pass through shelter doors. "Doodle" owners rarely let go of these pricey pooches.
That's just fine with McLean, who recoiled at the notion of a doodle dog in the White House.
"A goldendoodle? They'd be the laughing stock of the country," she said. "Genetics are very important. They should go for a purebred." (Specifically, she recommended the Sen. Edward M. Kennedy-favored Portuguese water dog).
The American Kennel Association counts 22 U.S. presidents who owned purebred dogs. President Bush's Scottish terriers have their own government-funded Web site, replete with streaming video of them frolicking.
One of them, Barney, made news this week when he bit a reporter who'd bent down to pet him. Perhaps he was feeling out of sorts over the Obama dog fervor.
A handful of presidents have gone farther afield than the Obamas plan to. According to presidentialpetmuseum.com, John Quincy Adams had an alligator and silkworms. William Henry Harrison had a billy goat. The Kennedy family brought a veritable zoo to the White House: birds, hamsters, dogs and Macaroni the Pony.
Maybe a goldendoodle will be the first of many Obama pets.
"With young children, anything could show up at the White House," McLean said. "I'd bet there will be a string of pets that accumulate there."
