Obama family welcomes first pet

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Bo Era beginneth.

Or, at least, it seemed almost that consequential Tuesday, judging from the overflow crowd of reporters and photographers who swarmed into the White House backyard for a glimpse of the new first puppy.

On this chilly, overcast day, the Portuguese water dog upstaged even the president and first lady.

“Bo Obama!” a reporter called out. “Are you hypoallergenic?”

Bo, only 6 months old but already savvy to the ways of Washington, made no comment. Not even a bark. But the Obama kids, not to mention the tall guy in the blue suit, spoke up for him.

“I love him,” Malia Obama, 10, said as Bo nuzzled her leg. “He’s perfect.”

Seven-year-old Sasha, punctuating her words with a little hop, declared, “He doesn’t know how to swim!”

Dad, also known as President Barack Obama, added that Porties “have webbed feet.”

Bo was a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and his wife, Victoria. The Kennedys sent over gifts Tuesday for Sasha and Malia: the book “My Senator and Me,” authored by, ahem, their Portie Splash; chew toys for Bo, a book on training Porties and a collar and leash set emblazoned with the message, “I love Obama,” spelled out with a heart.

Nothing about the arrival of the first puppy has been too trivial for inquiring minds. So the first family strolled along a rope line, the better to field questions.

Much was learned.

Malia informed reporters that Bo has already had a “sleepover with his brother,” presumably one of his littermates.

He will not, and the president left no doubt about this, be bedding down in the presidential bedroom. Asked where Bo would sleep, Obama replied, “Not with me.”

But this is the Washington press corps, so they dug deeper, each question broadening Obama’s smile. He went on to reveal that Bo won’t sleep in the girls’ rooms, either, and that he has his own designated sleeping spot.

Dog-walking duties, the president said, would be a family affair.

“We all have to take turns walking the dog,” Obama said.