Advice for Joe Biden: Take Good Care of the Dogs at the White House

When the two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, move into the White House on January 20, the new U.S. President, Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden will need to take especially good care of their four-legged friends.

The dogs should not be allowed to roam freely through all 132 rooms, nor should they be exposed to the approximately 4,000 people who work in and around the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue every day.

Becoming president and moving into the White House will not only bring major changes to the daily lives of the president and first lady, but also to their two dogs, who will have to adjust to spending less time with Joe and Jill, increased media attention, and a new home with enough rooms to get lost in.

“German Shepherds are extremely active. They were originally bred as herding dogs, and they love to work. At the same time, some German Shepherds form very strong attachments to just one person, and it is important that Joe Biden is aware of this when Champ and Major move into the White House and their daily routines change.”

This is what dog trainer Lea Nor tells B.T.

Together with canine physical therapist Helle Hoffmann and animal communicator Ditte Young, Nor has just published the dog training book Put Your Paw in Mine.

Like dog lovers worldwide, the three women are delighted that the White House will once again have four-legged residents. And as experts, they are ready to offer Jill and Joe Biden some helpful advice.

“If Joe Biden does not have time to take care of the dogs himself, it is important that he appoints a relatively small team of caregivers. If there are too many people involved in the dogs’ lives, they may become stressed,” Ditte Young tells B.T.

But the Bidens are, of course, not new dog owners, and Champ and Major are certainly not the first dogs to live in the White House.

Neither Donald nor Melania Trump showed an interest in having pets. However, since President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved into the White House in 1800, the residence has housed numerous animals.

Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, and his family had two Portuguese Water Dogs, Bo and Sunny. George W. Bush had two Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley. Bill Clinton had a chocolate Labrador Retriever named Buddy. And back in the 1960s, John F. Kennedy had no fewer than eight dogs during his presidency.

Joe and Jill Biden’s oldest dog, Champ, is 12 years old, so he has already spent time at the White House while Joe Biden was vice president. The newest addition to the family, Major, is just two years old.

Joe and Jill Biden adopted Major from a local animal shelter in their home state of Delaware in 2018.

According to the Biden family’s Twitter account, they look forward to showing the dogs around and making them part of everyday life at the White House.

“Champ has been my loyal companion for more than ten years. He gives me peace of mind. And I may very well need that kind of peace over the next four years,” Joe Biden says in an interview with NPR, one of the largest radio networks in the United States.

“It is important that Joe and Jill Biden do their best to keep the dogs’ daily routines as consistent as possible. And judging by the pictures, the relationship between the dogs and their owners looks very good,” Helle Hoffmann tells B.T.

In Denmark, Helle Hoffmann, Ditte Young, and Lea Nor have already helped more than 24,000 Danish dog owners. They are currently working on an English-language version of Put Your Paw in Mine. When it is ready, they’ll send it by express mail to the White House in Washington, D.C.