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Joe Biden's dog Major set to make history - becoming first canine from animal shelter to live in White House

German Shepherds Champ and Major are expected to move into 1,600 Pennsylvannia Avenue - with one of them making history.

Monday 9 November 2020 09:56, UK

Joe Biden will be the first president to take a rescue dog into the White House. Credit: Delaware Humane Association Instagram
Image: Joe Biden will be the first president to take a rescue shelter dog into the White House. Instagram pic: Delaware Humane Association
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The White House has been a pet-free zone for the past four years but the new First Family are expected to bring the patter of eight tiny feet with them - making history in the process.

German Shepherds Champ and Major are set to move into 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue when President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill take up residence.

And although many First Families before them have also taken pups to the White House - Major will be the very first dog from an animal rescue shelter to live there.

The Bidens will be the first First Family to bring a rescue dog to the White House. CREDIT: bidendogs Instagram
Image: The Bidens will be the first-ever First Family to bring a rescue shelter dog to the White House. Instagram pic: bidendogs

Champ joined the Biden family in 2008, the same year Joe Biden became vice-president under Barack Obama and when Bo and Sunny, the Obamas' two Portuguese Water Dogs were already resident at the famous address.

US President Barack Obama crouches to greet his dog, Bo, outside the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, DC, USA on March 15, 2012. Photo by Martin H. Simon/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM
Image: The Obama family had two dogs in the White House - Bo and Sunny

But Major came along after he had left office.

In 2018, Mr Biden's daughter Ashley saw on Facebook a litter of puppies needing homes at the Delaware Humane Association animal shelter.

Mr Biden contacted the centre and then brought Major home, first to be fostered, then adopted.

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And although his soon-to-be vice-president Kamala Harris does not currently own a dog, she is known to be a fan of the four-legged friends.

Dog-loving Kamala Harris supports US National Pet Day CREDIT: Kamala Harris Twitter
Image: Dog-loving Kamala Harris often had four-legged visitors in her senate office

A recent tweet on her official page showed she regularly welcomed dogs into her senate office.

President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher walk Reagan's dog Lucky on the White House lawn.
Image: President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher walk Mr Reagan's dog Lucky on the White House lawn

There is a long history of canine companions in the White House - and a special permanent exhibition showcasing photos of them is on the wall in the East Wing.

President William Jefferson Clinton posing with Buddy the Dog outside of the White House, April 6, 1999. Image courtesy National Archives. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
Image: Buddy was one of two pets the Clintons kept while in office. The other was a cat called Socks

The Clinton family had a chocolate Labrador called Buddy, while George W Bush had three dogs at the White House - two Scottish Terriers called Miss Beazley and Barney and an English Springer Spaniel called Spot.

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 13: U.S. President George W. Bush disembarks Marine One as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House with his dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley, August 13, 2006 in Washington, DC. Bush returned to Washington after vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. (Photo by Evan Sisley-Pool/Getty Images)
Image: President George W Bush always had a warm welcome from Barney and Miss Beazley whenever he disembarked Marine One on the South Lawn

Franklin D Roosevelt had a beloved dog called Fala, a Scottish terrier who became so famous he had cartoons and a film made about him.

President Johnson orders his pet dog, Yuki, out of the Yellow Oval Room today where formal pictures were being taken following Lynda Johnson's marriage to Marine Captain Charles Robb in the East Room on the White House.
Image: President Johnson orders his pet dog Yuki out of the Yellow Oval Room

Lyndon B Johnson also had a dog, called Yuki, who is said to have travelled often with the president.

Yuki was found by Mr Johnson's daughter, Luci Nugent, at a petrol station in Texas in 1966, according to his library.

His grandson Patrick Lyndon Nugent wrote: "LBJ's favourite dog was a rescue named Yuki, a white mutt who had been abandoned by his owner in a gas station in LBJ's hometown of Johnson City, Texas.

"They shared a very significant bond that personified the American spirit: Only in America could a poor boy from Johnson City end up in the White House."

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