Presidential Puppy Arrival Kept On Tight Leash

Presidential Pets

For much of the public, it is the most widely anticipated appointment to the new Obama administration: Who will be the first dog?

The blogosphere has been buzzing this week with rumors — all firmly met with "no comment" from White House officials — that there is a new first puppy and that it is a Portuguese water dog.

The Obamas were known to have been strongly lobbied to acquire the lightly shedding breed by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), whose two Portuguese water dogs, Splash and Sunny, often accompany him to work in the Capitol.

And during his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, President Obama said the dog would be arriving when he returned from the G-20 summit, which happened earlier this week.

Then, at a public event in the new White House vegetable garden Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama said the new first dog would be arriving "soon ... so soon," fueling speculation that the new canine companion for daughters Malia and Sasha might make an appearance this weekend.

Dog commentator David Frei, the voice of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, says he is not at all surprised by the huge outpouring of public interest in the first family's choice of pet.

"I think having a dog might touch more of us than who's his secretary of state or secretary of commerce," he says.

But for breeders of Portuguese water dogs, if the rumors are true, the news is a "double-edged sword," says Stu Freeman, president of the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America.

On one hand, he says, "we're kind of proud that he's selected our breed."

But at the same time, "PWD's are not for everyone. They are very active," he says. "This is a dog that if you don't keep it busy, it will find something to keep itself busy, and you won't necessarily like what its doing."

What worries Portuguese water dog breeders most is what Freeman calls the 101 Dalmatians syndrome, referring to the popular Disney movie. "Everybody decided 'oh, aren't they cute' in the movie — not realizing they had 47 takes and edited out all the parts where the dogs were nuts. And they said 'look how well-behaved they are.' And people got Dalmatians, and a lot of them ended up in shelters, and that's exactly what you don't want to have happen."

In an effort to avoid that, the Portuguese water dog club has posted on its Web site a list of cautions for potential owners about exactly how much grooming and activity the dogs need.