PROMISES, PROMISES

Is Obama dog a rescue or not?

[April 14, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Is Bo a rescued dog or not? Did President Obama keep or break a campaign promise in picking the purebred as the family's new pet?

The twists and turns of the Portuguese water dog's route to the White House make for the kind of intrigue that political junkies and the highly opinionated dog world delight in.

Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, said during the presidential campaign that they had promised their two girls a dog after the election.

The Obamas repeatedly said they wanted it to be a rescued dog such as one from a shelter. Their search was complicated by daughter Malia's allergies, which would rule out many of the "mutts" the president has said he would prefer.

Enter Bo, a 6-month-old puppy given up by his first owner and matched with the Obamas through his breeders. Because he was given up by his first owner as a poor fit and is now with his second owners, the Obamas, but never spent time in a shelter or with a rescue group, Bo is a "quasi-rescue dog," says Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States.

Here's where the intrigue comes in:

• Bo's breeders happen to have bred Sen. Edward Kennedy's Portuguese water dogs. The Massachusetts Democrat, an Obama friend and political ally, also acquired a pup from Bo's litter. Bo's breeders are fans of Obama and named Bo's litter the Hope and Change litter.

• Bo's first owner lives in Washington.

• Bo was returned to the breeder in early March, fitting the spring timeline the Obamas had given for their dog adoption.

• Kennedy and his wife, Victoria, helped line Bo up with the Obamas. Before moving into the White House, the pup spent nearly a month with the Kennedys' dog trainer in Virginia.

In fact, Bo is a gift to the Obamas' daughters, Malia and Sasha, from the Kennedys, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. The puppy officially arrives Tuesday.

"They were starting their search with shelter dogs, but when the Kennedys learned of this dog and offered it as a gift to the girls, they met the dog, it was a perfect fit for their lifestyle and for Malia's health concerns," she said, adding that the Obamas are making a donation to the Washington Humane Society. "Because this gift came before their pound search sort of was completed, they made a gift to some of the places they were looking."

Still, conspiracy buffs might speculate that Bo was meant for the Obamas all along. Was his adoption engineered to look like a rescue -- or at least blur the line to head off criticism that the Obamas had picked a purebred from a breeder?

The Humane Society's Pacelle acknowledged that the Obamas never flat-out promised to get a dog from a pound or rescue group. And the society has kind words for Obama on its Web site: "Thanks, Mr. President, for giving a second-chance dog a forever home," it says.

"He's in a gray area," Pacelle said of Bo. "But I will say that many animal advocates are disappointed that he (Obama) didn't go to a shelter or breed rescue group, partly because he set that expectation and because so many activists are focused on trying to reduce the number of animals euthanized at shelters, and there's no better person to make the case to the American public that you can get a great dog from a shelter than the president."

The group later removed its congratulatory message and replaced it with: "First Dog Unveiled. Concerns about impact on shelters, demand for breed as Bo makes his debut."

Bo could be considered rescued, since he was removed from a situation that wasn't working, said Cesar Millan, host of the National Geographic Channel's "The Dog Whisperer" and co-founder with his wife of a nonprofit foundation to help abused dogs.

To help Bo settle in, the Obamas should walk him a lot in the early days to bond with him, drain his energy and make him hungry for his meals, Millan said. That will give the dog a routine and help him see that the family is the source of his food, and he has to work for it, he said.

"The dog doesn't know he just moved in with the president of the United States. The dog is going to say, 'Who fulfilled my needs from day one, so who should I trust from day one?'" Millan said.

Bo's breeder, Martha Stern of Boyd, Texas, said she doesn't consider Bo a rescued dog. Owners of dogs from the kennel she and her husband run must sign contracts requiring them to return the dogs to the Sterns if they do not work out, she said. Bo went from his first home, in Washington, to the Kennedys' trainer in Virginia, and now to the White House, she said.

Portuguese water dogs aren't for everyone, Stern said. Known as PWDs, they tend to be high-energy "in-your-face" dogs that need a lot of attention, and their curly coats require a lot of maintenance, she said.

Stern said the first family did a lot of research and already knew the breed's pros and cons, and that Victoria Kennedy was closely involved. Bo seemed like a good fit because the Obamas are an active family and have the resources to give him the training and other things he needs, Stern said.

"I wouldn't say he's excessively high in energy," she said, but still a "little bit more than middle-of-the-road."

"On a scale of five, he's probably about three," Stern said.

The dog's non-shedding coat also makes him a good choice, given Malia Obama's allergies.

Stern worries that puppy mills will try to capitalize on the Obamas' dog choice and start churning out PWDs for an eager public. It's the responsibility of good Portuguese water dog breeders to try to prevent that, she said.

As for Bo, he has already been neutered, Mrs. Obama's spokeswoman said.

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On the Net:

Portuguese Water Dog Club of America:
http://www.pwdca.org/

The Humane Society of the United States:
http://www.hsus.org/

[Associated Press; By SHARON THEIMER]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.