Biden's dogs are back at the White House

[DonViejo]

By Kate Sullivan and Betsy Klein, CNN

Updated 7:57 AM ET, Wed March 24, 2021

Washington (CNN) - Both of the President and first lady's dogs, Major and Champ, have returned to the White House after spending some time in Delaware following a biting incident involving Major, according to Jill Biden's press secretary Michael LaRosa.

The two German Shepherds returned to Washington after Major worked with a trainer at the Bidens' home in Delaware following the incident at the White House.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the dogs were still been getting acclimated to their new surroundings at the White House when Major "was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual."

President Joe Biden told ABC that Major wasn't sent to Delaware because of the incident and that the move was previously planned because he and First Lady were going to be traveling.

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/24/politics/biden-dogs-back-white-house/index.html

[Omnipresent]

1. The Whitehouse is both a residence and place for government business.

Staff coming and going all hours of the day, would eventually encounter the dogs, and sometimes dogs just don’t like everyone.

[lark]

2. Older shepherds really get that way.

Glad he got some additional training and I'd bet he will get to know the staff and be fine, at least I hope so. No one should have to live without their dog.

[Ocelot II]

4. Major is the younger dog.

[lark]

5. OK, then, it was most likely a training issue since it was the young guy.

I'm sure he's now getting introduced to everyone who's there regularly so he doesn't get startled and he got training on that.

[MineralMan]

3. Good. People need to be trained, too.

If a dog doesn't know you, you should avoid sudden moves toward the dog or around the dog.

Offer the back of your hand to the dog before trying to touch it. The dog will sniff it in almost all cases. Speak to the dog as you do this, with some sort of familiar words, like "Good dog." Wait for a tail wag. Major has had obedience training, and will understand this, and will then have your scent and won't be aggressive toward you.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Was gonna say, has the SS detail been trained as well?

[MineralMan]

7. I hope so. But perhaps not.

I know that I do not assume that a dog I don't know is friendly and wants to meet me.

So, I watch the dog for signs of nervousness or aggressiveness. If the dog is on a leash, I ask the person holding the leash if the dog likes to meet new people before doing anything. If I encounter an off-leash dog, I generally skip the chance to meet the dog, unless it comes over to me with tail wagging and clearly interested in a meeting.

My wife and I walk our two dogs daily. Always on leashes. We know our dogs simply love meeting people. When we meet other dogs on our walks, we assume nothing, though. We're perfectly fine with crossing the street and continuing on our walk without an encounter. Our beagle/basset mix loves meeting new dogs, but he is a loud barker and gets overexcited. So, we generally try to avoid encounters with other dogs, leashed or not.

Off-leash dog parks are great, but they are also a potential source of conflict between dogs. People aren't supposed to bring aggressive dogs to those areas, but sometimes, they do. So, we make fewer visits to them than we might, after a couple of incidents.

[Pobeka]

10. Thank you for being a responsible dog owner.

My wife and I hike the mountains, and over the past few years have had a few encounters with off leash aggressive dogs. The owners think the dog is "under their control", but clearly not. What was supposed to be a nice hike can turn into a stressful experience.

I am generally a dog-lover, and I see dog problems as stemming from the dog owners, not the dog.

As an interesting aside, my daughter lives in Portland, OR. It is a walkable city. The dogs on the sidewalk walking with their owners just won't make eye contact with people on the sidewalk. I got so fascinated by this I started looking directly at every dog I saw as we passed. I think over a few months, after passing about 30 dogs, I only got one quick glance returned back from a dog.

[Deminpenn]

16. IIRC, that's how dogs respond to the pack leader,

in this case, their owner/walker.

[Mosby]

11. I think thats the bigger point, MM.

You can't train away breed characteristics. The people working in the West wing need to learn how to interact with the first dogs.

[MineralMan]

12. The neighbor behind me had a French mastiff.

The dog barked loudly every time I went into my back yard, and was a big, big dog. I asked the neighbor if I could give the dog a treat from time to time. She said, "Sure," but gluten-free, please." Li'l Smokies was my choice. So, the next time I went out there, I had a couple of them with me. "Bark! Bark! Bark!"

I tossed one over the fence while the dog was looking at me. Naturally, she went to look to see what I had tossed into her territory. Surprise! She came back to the fence, but this time was drooling instead of barking, so I offered her the second one to take from my fingers. She very gently did that.

I repeated that once in a while over the next few days. No more barking at me when I came into the back yard. Instead, she'd come up to the fence wiggling in anticipation. After that, we were best buddies, even if I didn't have a sausage for her. I still brought her one occasionally, which was enough to stay on her "Love you, human" side.

[Treefrog]

13. This is so true. People don't realize that you really shouldn't run up to a dog you don't know.

So glad his best friends are back in the WH. Dogs are so good for a person’s mental and emotional health.

[FalloutShelter]

8. FDR's dog Fala was a notorious biter.

He once bit the British Ambassador. Rethugs made a thing about it.

Here is some of the "FALA speech;

These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family doesn’t resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I’d left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him—at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars—his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself … But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog.

[lagomorph777]

9. Hah! FDR had a way with words!

A wicked way, in this case.

[Ocelot II]

17. Queen Elizabeth's corgis have been infamously bitey, too.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. Yeah

Link to tweet

[Raine]

15. HURRAY!!! ♥️ 🐶 🐶 ♥️ nt

[Demovictory9]

18. Good news

[crickets]

19. Aw. I love that there are doggos in the White House again. Good boys! nt

[demtenjeep]

20. good

I love the dogs

[demtenjeep]

21. good

I love the dogs