First family selects a PWD! Not even an SWD but a PWD! I’m willing to bet nobody in that family even speaks Portuguese! I’m thinking the British are behind this somehow.
Poodle With Diapers? 
djm
Poodle With(out) Diapers, have you seen the way they clip those poor puppies.
I believe that one of the daughters is allergic so that a “hypoallergenic” breed was what they were looking for. Non shedding poodle mix breed and other similar dogs were what they were choosing from.
That is if I correctly remember what the tabloids said.
Tackle fetchers and fish herders, interesting. Sound like high energy and high maintenance.
And just for fun,
List of United States Presidential pets
Porties are actually very nice dogs (and very closely related to poodles, as it happens).
Redwolf
Interesting choice. They are nice dogs and sharp as a whip to boot.
Now that they’ve declared what they want and when, what are the odds that breeders won’t try to plant a dog of the right age and breed in DC-area shelters in the hopes of landing a White House dog?
My guess is that they will be working through breed rescue.
And no, to be honest, I can’t imagine a portie breeder risking a dog’s life and his or her own reputation as a breeder “just to land a White House Dog.”
Redwolf
No way a contentious true breeder would even think of such a thing. Most breeders of rare or relatively rare breeds are ferocious in their protectiveness of the breed and dogs of their own breeding and who gets the privilege of owning one. They are most likely NOT excited about the prospects of their breed becoming popular due to this presidential pick. The puppy mills crank up production of the “new” breed and folks who have no idea of what the needs and requirements of the dog are, start searching for one, just because it’s the dog to have at the moment. Think bull terriers a few years ago when the beer ads started, or rottweilers a few more years back…
Most folks don’t know just how true, and inhumane, this can be.
The whole concept of a hypoallergenic dog, at least in this day and age so far, is unfortunate and unfounded. Our oldest ankle biter has had, and continues to have, bouts of allergic reactions to all our animals from time to time that has been treated very successfully medicinally. There is no guarantee the Obama’s daughter will not have the same intensity of an allergic reaction to this breed as she would to most any other breed within a few hours or weeks of exposure especially if the puppy gives her lots of “kisses.” But our IWS has a PWD playmate that she is quite taken with, although she also has a GSD, ABD, SP, and BT that she is crazy about.
They’d be well advised to spend some quality time with their intended pooch prior to purchase to see if the child will or will not react to the breed.
Spending such time with any breed is a good idea before purchase… lets one really know what they are getting themselves into.
Good find! Calvin Coolidge had quite a menagerie…lions, hippo, wallaby, antelope, bear, bobcat, donkey, racoons, goose…!
Cal, Cal, Cal…!!! 
Problem is sensitivity is no always the same from day to day. It ebbs and flow with exposure. She could be fine for weeks or months.
Both Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt were men after my own heart, they both owned Bull Terriers. 
Yeah! Cute little nippers, poor Pharos. 
Yes, they are. But they aren’t a dog for the weak, couch potatoes or inactive and frequently absent owners. Imagine a hyper Jack Russel Terrier, then add 50-6o pounds of solid muscle… they really do not grow out of it until much later in life.
I understand they do, but not much more than five to ten minutes before they die.
There was an ad a few years ago (I can’t remember what for) that featured a Jack Russell that was constantly bouncing (the image I especially remember is him bouncing up and down through a car’s sunroof as it drove down the street). The closing line was something along the lines of “the vet says he’ll outgrow it in about eight to ten years” (I’m not even sure of the number, other than it was implied that, of course, he’d never outgrow it)
It’s true that there’s no such thing as a “hypoallergenic dog.” Often allergy sufferers can handle being around coated breeds because the lack of shedding tends to put less dander in the air, but that’s not always the case (and, if nothing else, it’s important that someone else handle the dog’s grooming needs…which are considerable). They should definitely spend time with the dog in question before making a final choice, and they will always want to be careful that Malia not sleep with the dog or be the one who has to brush it.
I do wonder, though, if they’ve done allergy testing to be certain that she IS allergic to dogs? My husband has suffered from terrible allergies all his life, and it was always assumed that he was allergic to dogs, which is why his family got started with poodles. About nine months ago, however, he had allergy testing done so that he could start allergy shots, and it turns out he’s not actually allergic to any kind of animal dander…all his allergies are grass- tree- and dust-mite related.
Back to the question of getting a rescue dog, breed rescue organizations do wonderful work, and should be able to help the Obamas give a rescued Portie an excellent second-chance home. Our current poodle, Wiley, is a rescue…he was removed from an abusive home and cared for by poodle rescue folks until he could be returned to his breeder, who placed him with us because she knew from our record that we take good care of “special needs” pets (Wiley’s former owners left him with a badly damaged hind leg that required multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy, and which will always be more fragile than the others).
Redwolf
I don’t know if a First Family would be an ideal situation for a rescue dog; there is an extra load of stress placed on them (the family) and trying to care for the special needs of a rescue might be asking too much.
I do hope that they spend a good deal of time learning about the breed, it’s needs, disposition and health concerns before actually adopting one. Rescue shelters (by their nature and design) are brimming over with animals that weren’t given any consideration along these lines.