First Family: Life in the White House

Obama says first family is waiting until spring to adopt dog

In an interview with Anderson Cooper about Tom Daschle's withdrawal and the economy, President Obama was also asked about the first family's pet.

Cooper: ... What's the latest on the dog search?

Obama: We are going to get it in the spring. I think the theory was that the girls might be less inclined to do the walking when it was cold outside.

Cooper: Portuguese water dog? You don't know yet?

Obama: You know, we're still experimenting.

Related: Favorite names for the first dog (SFGate.com)

Previously:

• What the Obamas should name their new dog
• Hopeful Trainer-in-Chief offers obedience tips for White House dogs
• Canines across the country vie for position of Top Dog

'White House Pets' opens tonight at Kennedy Center

The Washington Post reviews a new play debuting this evening:

The Kennedy Center raises its curtain tonight on a story that seems familiar: A girl whose father has just become president tries to get used to life at the White House and turns to a beloved pet for comfort and companionship.

Wait, you say: Malia and Sasha Obama have not yet gotten the puppy they were promised during the campaign. True enough, and, strictly speaking, "Unleashed! The Secret Lives of White House Pets" isn't about the Obama girls and their pet-to-be. But with young children in the White House for the first time in a generation, the play (in the works before Obama was a front-runner for the White House) is nothing if not well timed. ...

At its heart, the play is about friendship and how pets can warm a rather cold and lonely existence, with plenty of White House history thrown in. Characters include White House kids Alice Roosevelt and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, who confides that with the Civil War raging, he often has no one to play with save his two pet goats.

What the Obamas should name their new dog

A "brand name consultancy" has issued a press release about how the Obamas should name the dog they plan to adopt. They say the name should be:

• Politically optimistic
• Easy to pronounce and spell
• No more than two syllables
• Atypical
• American
• Tell a story
• End with a vowel sound

Some names they suggest are:

• DOTUS. If the President of the United States is POTUS, than the First Dog should be DOTUS.
• Barelle. Combines the first syllable of Barack with the last syllable of Michelle.
• Harpo. Oprah, one of Obama's strongest supporters, spelled backwards.
• Lincoln. In honor of Obama's presidential hero, signifies a link to the future.
• RahmRod. Combination of Obama's top dogs Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod; signals that the president is serious about change.

The company also researched how Obama supporters named their own pets:

Strategic Name Development surveyed 487 U.S. citizens, at random, who owned a pet and supported Barack Obama in the recent presidential election using Survey Sampling's national online panel. The survey and subsequent market analysis were conducted in late 2008 and balanced by age, income, gender and U.S. Census region. The findings are significant at 95 percent confidence.

They found:

• 16 percent of Obama supporters used virtue as the guide for their pets' names. While four in five virtue names are positive -- Faith, Frank, Dexter, Precious -- there is also a flip side to virtue - Bandit, Misfit, Jinxie and Biff.
• One in 10 Obama supporters elected to name their pets after an existing consumer brand. Among the choices were Hershey, Snickers, Ricoh, Adidas and Nike.
• Objects, personality traits and animals were also popular.

Hopeful Trainer-in-Chief offers obedience tips for White House dogs

Whether a labradoodle or Portuguese water dog, a Virginia woman hopes to train the dog the Obamas have promised they'd adopt. Dog trainer Laurie Williams writes the president:

Both dogs are high energy and require lots of consistent training -- unless you don't mind them tackling a visiting head of state, soiling the Oval Office rug or snatching food off an East Room table during an elegant reception.

I've trained dogs for 25 years and my tips for living with them might also prove useful as you start running the country and dealing with U.S. and foreign leaders:

Aim for progress not perfection. There will be mishaps. Clean them up and move on.

Set limits. Dogs are opportunists with no moral code. If something looks good to them, they'll go for it.

Anticipate pitfalls. View your surroundings from their perspective. Remove anything that could prove harmful. Keep a close eye on them even after you've established a bond of trust.

Williams was selected as Trainer-in-Chief by the Assocation of Pet Dog Trainers, who offered to help the Obamas in November.

Related: "Who's going to groom the dog?" (SouthCoastToday.com)

Canines across the country vie for position of Top Dog

The Christian Science Monitor breaks down the competition for the first family's new puppy:

There's the Martin County (Minn.) Humane Society's "Wema to the White House" Internet campaign in which a rescued Portuguese water dog was given the Swahili name for compassion and kindness to win Obama hearts. There's the Winnipeg Humane Society's gambit to get Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to give Obama a labradoodle from a shelter-born litter of 11 when the new president visits in coming weeks. (The US Constitution is silent on the citizenship of a first dog). There's the Humane Society of the United States lobby of "high level" administration officials to take a look at its California labradoodle "spokesdog." And there are countless other canine orphans being offered up on rescue and shelter Web sites across the country.

Will it be a labradoodle or a water dog? Examiner.com says:

Despite the intense lobbying, "Labradoodles for Obama" has some formidable competition. Senator Ted Kennedy, the American Kennel Club, and the Westminster Dog Show, have all come out in favor of the Portuguese water dog.