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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Obamas Pick a Pooch: Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog

By Joanna Ossinger

FOXBusiness

President Obama’s family has reportedly made what may be their most-anticipated decision thus far: They’ve selected a Portuguese Water Dog as the First Dog, and have named it Bo.

The Washington Post reported, after word leaked out on the Internet on Saturday, that the Obamas received Bo as a gift from Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the ailing elder statesman of the Senate, who has three Portuguese Water Dogs himself.

The official announcement is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but word leaked out through a site called FirstDogCharlie.com, according to the Post. That domain name, the paper noted, was purchased anonymously on Friday through the Web site GoDaddy.com.

The Post said Bo “charmed” the family in a recent meeting, though it noted he has been receiving training lessons from the Kennedys’ personal dog trainers. The Post quoted a source as saying that First Daughter Malia has done “extensive research” on the responsibilities of owning a pet, while First Daughter Sasha was just excited about welcoming a new family member.

The PWD had a leg up on the competition, so to speak, because First Daughter Malia has allergies, and the breed tends to bring out few problems for people with allergies.

The Obamas had initially said they wanted to get a rescue dog but, as the Post noted, the carefully bred PWDs rarely end up in shelters. The Post said Bo had been living with another family and it didn’t work out, so the Kennedys bought the dog for the Obamas.

According to the Post, the Obamas intend to make a donation to the D.C. Humane Society in lieu of adopting a rescue dog.

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