What's This about the Obamas Getting a Puppy?by Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger 06 Nov 2008 10:58 AM Barack Obama's win was, naturally, the talk of all the news yesterday. But of course the thing that caught my ear was the focus on how the Obamas were considering getting a puppy. The Puppy Speech I'd tried to stay awake for Obama's victory speech Tuesday night, but instead I ended up falling asleep. I guess if I would have watched it I would have heard for myself the part where he said he was going to reward his daughters' support and patience during the campaign with a puppy. I was surprised to hear they were considering a puppy. I remembered an interview earlier in the year where Michelle Obama had said adding a puppy to the family wasn't something they were looking to do anytime soon. However, after doing some research on this topic, I came across an article on Newsday.com by Denise Flaim called "Eyeing Obama family's puppy plans." Flaim referenced a Good Morning America interview Michelle Obama gave back in May where she'd said they would wait a year to get a dog. "What we know about raising a dog is that you have to be pretty stable," she said. And by spring, "we'll be settled, one way or another." ~-Michelle Obama in the Good Morning America interview as related in "Eyeing Obama family's puppy plans."-~ Puppy Decision '09: Purebred vs. Shelter Dog Something else I learned from Flaim's article was that back in July the American Kennel Club created presidentialpup.com. They created the site to let Americans "cast [their] vote for a canine candidate" that would be most appropriate for the Obama family. Keeping in mind that one of Obama's daughter's suffers from allergies, they came up with five hypoallergenic breeds voters could choose from: soft-coated wheaten terrier, miniature schnauzer, bichon frise, Chinese crested, or poodle. The poodle won. But not to be outdone by the purebred faction, the Best Friends Network created obamafamilydog.com to encourage them to adopt a shelter dog. On Entertainment Tonight, Michelle Obama said they were planning on going that route. (Adopting a shelter dog, although not necessarily from the Best Friends Network.) Something Noteworthy: 42,000 people cast votes on the AKC's site. 50,000 signed the Best Friends Network's petition asking the Obama's to adopt a dog once the election ended. Looking at the numbers of people who bothered to visit the two sites, the adoption faction had the stronger turnout. However, due to allergy issues, will the Obamas really be able to? As Flaim pointed out in her article, "Most shelter puppies are mixes that are not hypoallergenic..." One Breed the Obamas Most Likely Won't Pick Although it would be both funny and ironic, I believe I'm safe in saying the Obamas won't pick a pit bull for their family dog. Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here. Related Articles All Hail the Resident Pets in Chief! All the President's Pets (Washington and Lincoln's, At Least) The White House: A Venerable History Fun with History - The White House Bringing the Importance of the Presidential Election Home Using the ASPCA's Personality Matcher to Adopt a Pet Six Reasons Why You'll Never Regret Adopting a Dog Learn more about Courtney Mroch  Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k. Relevantpets tags User Comments  Aimee Amodio |
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