What type of dog will the Obamas get?

@Jenni...Whatever the Obamas might choose, it won't be nearly as nice as the photo of your boys, that we have all come to enjoy so much!

GREATTTTT question!!! LOL ... I bet they get a German Shepherd and name him Spanky :-P

But I don't believe any will be announced BEFORE Feb-May at the earliest :-D And that's provided he is even elected puppet, oops, I meant presidente :-P

I think Obama is a man of the people and therefore will steer clear of pure breeds. I think he really needs a big dog although he's got two daughters and they might sway him into getting something girly like a poodle. Still I am sure his PR guys would veto that. I think the leader of the free world can't go wrong with a nice black labrador.

From a PR standpoint you can't beat a mutt rescued from the pound. BUT there is the allergy issue. I think its probably gonna have to come from one of these: http://www.akc.org/about/faq_allergies.cfm (Kerry Blue would be pretty funny)

So then its a question of which one looks cuddly enough for the girls but won't unduly embarrass Obama to be photographed with it.

Hmmm....He hasn't allowed a dog in his house. But, if elected, he feels it's OK to have a dog in our house?

@Erik - actually he said the dog is coming win or lose. Its a bribe to the girls to get them through the election season (can't be fun for kids).

I like this question, because I actually like dogs better than people, most of the time.
We have 2 pound pups - Australian Cattle dogs.
I am starting a photo business based on pet photography. Hasn't paid well yet, but it sure is a lot of fun.
http://www.ProPetPix.com/index.html

I would prefer to cast my presidential vote for Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer, if it were not such a wasted vote.

@chatarra - i agree about dogs being easier to like than most people! At least they tend to be friendly even on the not-so-good days. I would think a dog would be a must-have for a politician...

My sister's friend's brother-in-law's coworker's neighbor's aunt heard a rumor that he's all set on procuring a BOXER for his kids.

That would look good for the pr: Obama slips in puddle of saliva made by boxer! i can see it now!
@nigeleccles Obama hasn't won yet. Anyone who's name isn't recognized as a word by Microsoft word cant be to much of a threat to McCain

AKC voters choose a poodle: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/28/americans-elect-poodle-as_n_122088.html

Hmm: "I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House," Obama told Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, during his victory speech.

Sounds like it could be sooner after all! I mean, really, do you want to try to housebreak a puppy in the whitehouse??

If he gets this dog from a dog shelter, and even though the shelter says it's pure bred or mixed bred (but without certificatin) how will the question settle then?

Based on what they say it is i guess.

Jenni I am so jealous you have 2 Bichons, how lucky you are. I put a bet on them because I understand they are good as far as allergies go.

So, PC no longer stands for politically correct: it means POODLE CLUB. Ok...?

Think about this a minute: Are you really going to get a new puppy that has to be housebroken, BEFORE you move? The White House is obviously huge and would have more space to help the girls get used to their allergies with the puppy. Would YOU really start this BEFORE you move?

AND FINALLY, every puppy in the country has bought it's lottery ticket for the White House, in hopes that it's number comes in...

Hahaha!! Poodle Club University.. I got a mental image of a poodle George Clinton. Awesome.

i said poodle they are non allergenic do not shed there hair,
a well conformed boxer does not slop. how do i know that i have breed them for 30 years.
the Chinese crested does not have hair, only on his top not. whose body temperature is higher than any other dog,
and where supposedly used as a hot water bottle.by the Chinese gentry of the time.
how do i know this i was a dog judge and judge all over australia.

why was the original question altered (destry )why did you take out by inauguration

Given that Obama is such an elitist, I would say poodle. He probably thinks that any dog that isn't a purebred isn't good enough for him.

@cici - Yeah, Bichons are great. They are very social and friendly and I do think they would be a great choice for a 'first puppy', although we've found that two is definitely better than 1. I just don't see a 6'2" black man walking a little fluffy cotton ball around the Rose Garden. It seems that they would need something more substantial. Rumor has it that Malia is favoring the labradoodle (http://images.google.com/images?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=labradoodle&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi ) which satisfies the substantial, but the 'labra" part will still have dander and possibly affect her allergies. Remains to be seen if mom overrules that pick!

Obama spoke about the puppy in the press conference today! Embedded now...

From AKC poll: http://www.akc.org/poll/special/presidential.cfm

Ollie has all the necessary ingredients. I vote for Ollie!

Rescue dog "Ollie" is a 2 year old Toy Poodle. He is housetrained, neutered, vetted, vaccinated and is on flea, tick and heartworm preventative. Ollie can be adopted by contacting Poodle Club of America Rescue Chair Sally Poindexter at PoodleClubOfAmerica@yahoo.com

I thought labradoodles were non-allergenic...my cousin who is allergic to everything under the sun has a groodle and she doesn't have any problems. But given that they sell for like $1000, I can't imagine too many of them being unwanted at a pet shelter

curios - got any game bred pit's in your neck of the woods?

@HD'rs..FYI the AKC has done more harm to dogs than any other group i know of.

dieseldog - we have them, but they are vicious. we have had them turn on there owners for no apparent reason then as it must be the over there they are put down. they are a bad cross initially breed for hunting but then over. there you started using them for dog fights and breed the best with the best to produce what they represent to-day

just had a thought i wonder if he would accept a dieseldog another CROSS BRED (ha ha)

@diesel- some information for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier

@curios you are too funny...

curios - i thought you would be more objective being invovled with dogs as much as you are. pit's WASN'T bred for hunting. all dogs are want their owner makes them. all dogs will bite people..even boxers. steve irwin had a pit and it wasn't people mean.

from your link - The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page. (December 2007)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

diesel-Pitbull dog is a result of a long process of selection in circumstances identical to the cicumstances of gladiator fights in Ancient Rome and pitbulls can rightfully claim to be victims of human cruelty. The original purpose was for them to fight wild beasts. In bull-baiting and bear-baiting fights, american pitbull terrier, together with the wild beasts, provided entertainment to crowds eager to enjoy the sight of death and torture. Numerous pitbull perished on these death rinks. Survivors were priced expensively and used for breeding while the dead are something humanity has no reason to be proud of itself. After bullfights and bear-fights were banned in the eighteenth century pitbulls continued to fight, this time against each other. In the civillised world dog-fights have been banned already but they still continue, violating the laws. Thus nature fo pitbulls has selected two major traits in this breed - dog training their exceptional friendliness to people, regardless if the people are familiar or total strangers, on the one hand, and fierce intolerance to their own species, even of the opposite sex. There are exceptions, of course - pitbull who fully socialise with other dogs, who are "seeing ey" pitbulls, or are used in the army and the police. Yet they are still only exceptions. You shouldn't think that if your 4-months old pitbull puppy is playing with the neighbour's shepherd right now, his dormant instincts won't awaken when he is a year and a half old, and he won't attack other dogs then. One should NEVER forget how this breed has been selected over they years!
your friend

Tssst!!!!!

taken directly from a bit bull site never mind the( tssst )what ever that means ?

Obama speaks about the puppy -

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1268791,obama-press-conference-dog-110908.article

Sweet asked what former presidents Obama had spoken to and about his progress on buying his daughters a puppy.

"I've spoken to all of them," he said, after a pause adding, "... that are living. I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances."

On the question puppy for his daughters, Obama quipped that it was a major decision that would need to meet two criteria. One was that it be hypo-allergenic.

"On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog," he said. "But obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me. So the -- so, whether we're going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama household."

The suspension date is critical in this market. I don't know whether or not it has changed yet so far, but if it does hereafter, I would request a void.

Oh, and the suspension date is Christmas Eve as of now.

The excerpt I posted to this website was taken directly from a pit bull website [quotation needed]. Never mind the "tssst." What ever could that mean?

Hahaha, oops I meant "[citation needed]"

curios - i agree with most of what you said in comment #32. imho the dogs used to fight bulls & bears are not the pit's of today. those dogs was much larger. after the so called sport of bull & bear baiting was outlawed they bred those dogs with terriers. it produced a smaller, more agile, and easiar-cheaper dog to keep. those are the pit's of today. as you said the majority of pit's are people friendly. you won't find many pit's in police work. their not good at crowd control (pits ain't much for barking and showing their teeth) and their animal aggressive.

the reason i asked i have a intrest in the colby line of pits. was wondering if you've seen or heard of anybody in your neck of the woods who have any colby dogs. thanks for you reply.

i would hope obama wouldn't get any form of pit..ie staffordshirebull or american staffordshirebull terrier. their great family dogs but don't need the attention. if obama gets a purebred dog you know the breed will become more popular. then you get people (who know nothing about breeding dogs) breeding dogs just for the money. the breed's reputation will suffer for that.

@dieseldog

I think that Obama will not get any type of pit unless it is a small hypo-allergenic type of pit. But I could be wrong.

@diesel and chuck,
staffies (pure) are one of the kindness type of dog you can possibly imagine .
i did once but up one as best in show i personally love them but as you well know ;it is strange that the introduction of another breed can cause all sorts of problems .
as to your comment on what ever he chooses every one will want one and unscrupulous breeds will have a ball.

I think it's really weak that this question suspends on Christmas Eve. It would have been a good question if it had suspended on Inauguration Day--that would have made more sense.

@melmel - I agree! What dummy made it Christmas Eve?? Oh wait.. that was me :) Actually it was a typo. I originally meant to have it suspend on Christmas Eve and then settle the day after Inaugration -- but a typo in the settlement details ('none by suspend' instead of 'none by settlement') kind of changed the tenor of the question. I didn't catch the mistake until a bunch of people had already bet on it and it was too late to try to edit it. If this does settle as 'none by suspend' I will be sure to have another posted the next day so we can bet on the actual dog. Here's to hoping they make a decision soon though!

What type of dog one with a head a body and a leg on each corner

WASHINGTON — Malia and Sasha Obama will have to wait at least two more months for that puppy their dad promised them.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov16/0,4670,ObamaDog,00.html

There's always the chance that they pick out the dog prior to bring it home though... Maybe they'll send it off to puppy boot camp first!