Although their children are grown up, Joe and Jill Biden aren’t the only members of their family who moved into the White House on Wednesday.
Major and Champ, the Bidens’ pet German shepherds, have joined their owners in their Washington digs. That’s not to say the arrival of the presidential pooches was unexpected; Biden was using the canines as a campaign tool as long ago as October, when he tweeted, “Some Americans celebrate National Cat Day, some celebrate National Dog Day. President Trump celebrates neither. It says a lot. It’s time we put a pet back in the White House.”
President-elect Joe Biden is not the only one getting some fanfare as he enters the White House — his rescue dog, Major, is being honored by the shelter he came from. https://t.co/NjeB4rSMY3
— CNN (@CNN) January 16, 2021
The arrival of Major and Champ doesn’t mark the first time pets have roamed the halls of the White House. The tradition dates back to George Washington, who owned seven dogs. Their names: Sweet Lips, Venus, Trulove, Taster, Tippler, Drunkard, and Madame Moose. At least 29 U.S. presidents have been pet owners, historians say.
Does a U.S. president have time to take care of a dog — much less two? Why have there been more dogs than cats in the White House?
