When the President’s Dog Misbehaves

Joe Biden’s German Shepherd, Commander, has been a foul canine — a really unhealthy canine. According to CNN investigative reporters Camila DeChalus and Betsy Klein, who reviewed greater than 400 pages of official paperwork, Commander has bitten US Secret Service personnel in at the very least 24 incidents. Some of those had been critical sufficient to attract blood and require stitches. That quantity doesn’t seem to incorporate extra incidents involving different White House workers and staff.

Not all dogs work out nicely for the households who undertake them. I used to be stunned to study, from a collection of scientific surveys in North America and Britain that as much as 4 out of each ten puppies don’t efficiently make it by the primary yr with the individuals who first undertake them. These dogs are returned to their breeders, or given as much as shelters, killed by their house owners, taken to a veterinarian to be euthanized, or just deserted. The most typical causes for relinquishing these dogs are behavioral points, and aggression exhibits up as one of many prime three causes in quite a few research.

However, there appears to be a preferred expectation that the dogs that occupy the White House, particularly the household dogs of the president, ought to be civilized, decorous, calm, and well-behaved as befits the standing held by their presidential house owners. However, there’s a lengthy historical past of delinquent tendencies within the dogs saved by First Families within the U.S.

JFK and Charlie

When John F. Kennedy was elected president, he had a Welsh Terrier named Charlie. Typical of terriers, Charlie was bossy and confident. He developed a trick that didn’t endear him to the gardeners and staff outdoors across the White House. He would silently slip up behind a employee who was digging or working the soil. He would then make a fast rush on the man, nipping him within the seat of the pants or grabbing at his leg. The attack was over in seconds and Charlie shortly scampered away. One employee complained to his supervisor that Charlie had bitten exhausting sufficient to attract blood. The employee was informed to simply accept the habits. Otherwise, he can be requested to go away his job, not the canine.

Teddy Roosevelt and Pete

Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Terrier, Pete, additionally had a dominant terrier character, and if individuals irritated him he had no hesitation about responding together with his tooth. When he nipped at a naval officer and snapped at some cupboard ministers, Roosevelt waved the incidents off as “the nature of the breed” or “his attitudes toward their political stances.” Unfortunately, at some point the French ambassador, Jules Jusserand, arrived on the White House sporting a morning coat with tails (like a tuxedo). The dangling of tails was an excessive amount of for Pete who leaped as much as snap at them and ended up tearing the underside out of his pants as an alternative. The press made a big fuss about this, the French authorities complained, and somewhat than jeopardize U.S. relations with France, Pete was exiled to the Roosevelt mansion at Sagamore Hill.

Calvin Coolidge and Peter Pan

Dangling clothes can set off the prey drive in lots of terriers, as Calvin Coolidge sadly realized. He owned a wirehaired Fox Terrier, named Peter Pan. The canine was untrained and infrequently turned uncontrollably excited round guests and White House workers members. Coolidge thought that this was somewhat amusing, and would typically warn guests about his nipping by saying “Be cautious, Peter is one Republican within the White House who bites.” One scorching summer season day some guests arrived, together with a lady who was sporting a protracted skirt made out of some very mild materials, acceptable for heat climate. It had a flowery print and was cinched with a cord-like belt with tassels that hung down within the again. The president greeted her out on the White House garden, and because the girl turned both the swishing of the skirt or the bouncing of the tassels caught Peter Pan’s consideration. He instantly leaped at her skirt, catching a number of the flimsy materials in his tooth. There was a tearing sound, and the skirt appeared to disintegrate leaving the poor girl uncovered and embarrassed. Although an aide resourcefully stepped in and wrapped his go well with jacket across the waist of the flustered customer this was all an excessive amount of for Coolidge’s spouse, Grace, who insisted that Peter Pan be banished from the White House and despatched again to the household home in Massachusetts.

Ronald Reagan and Lucky

Often issues come up for presidents as a result of dogs are responding with breed-specific genetically based mostly instincts, such because the tendency for terriers to chase and snap at fluttery or fast-moving issues, or the protecting nature of German shepherds that may trigger them to be aggressively reactive.

One instance of this comes from Lucky, a Bouvier de Flandres who was given to Ronald Reagan throughout his early years on the White House. Bouviers are massive dogs which have been specialised to herd cattle. Although fairly pleasant, they are often pushy and demanding until skilled. Left to her pure tendencies, the rambunctious canine frequently tried to herd Reagan throughout the garden by snapping at his heels and bumping at his facet. On one event, Lucky even drew blood with a nip on the presidential hindquarters, a trick Bouviers use to make cattle transfer alongside at a swifter tempo. The resultant {photograph}, which was revealed nationally, appeared to break the dignity of the president, so Lucky was despatched to his ranch in Santa Barbara, California, the place there was livestock for her to herd as an alternative of politicians.

When presidential pets cannot be skilled out of their troublesome behaviors, traditionally, the same old answer has been banishment from the capital. This has been the destiny of Commander, who was despatched to stay with different members of the Biden household away from Washington, DC, and the scrutiny of the media.

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