Strollerderby

Obamas Pick a Breed and a Homecoming for First Dog

Posted by JeanneSager

The president may jokingly refer to himself as a mutt, but it will be a purebred bounding into the White House on four paws come April. 

Michelle Obama has let word get out that the family is looking for a Portuguese water dog - preferrably a rescue (a request the First Family has made several times over) - one of the few hypo-allergenic breeds of dogs that will be acceptable in light of ten-year-old Malia's allergies. 

When's it coming home?

April Fool's Day, according to Sasha. Sometime in April, says the First Lady. The family still has to find that dog, and they're still working out names. Apparently "Frank" and "Moose" have both been bandied about.

All of our family pets pre-date my daughter, so she didn't get to help with the naming process, but I know in most families the names are a communal decision.

Did you pick before your pet came home, or did you wait to see what he or she looked like so you could gauge the name to the looks or personality? Were your kids involved in the naming process?

Image: Getty, via Daily News

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Comments

 

SE said:

Our 5yo daughter named the cat we adopted for my 40th birthday: Jack. She had picked out Daisy if it were a girl. I have no idea how she came up with the names!

February 25, 2009 4:20 PM
 

Shannon LC Cate said:

Portuguese water dogs are cool!  Now there will be a run on them...

February 26, 2009 9:00 AM
 

Sheri said:

All of our dogs have been rescue animals.  Well, one was a gift from a co-worker and the other was found in a barn, but the remainder were straight from rescues.  Most had names.  So we gave them middle names.  Bob became Bob-a-loo, Sadie is now Sadie Sue, we changed Champ to Nelson Andrew (Champ did not fit him at all), Clara was Clarabelle...etc.  The only dog we actually got to name was the latest one found in a barn by a friend.  The two youngest boys wanted to name her Alice.  When I asked what her middle name would be the 4 year-old said "the Great"  So we have Alice the Great.  

February 26, 2009 9:04 AM
 

elohveeee12 said:

when i was a kid we had so many pets, hooch, pooch, penny, ginger, chi-chi, Cloey, tiffany, Charlie (dogs), Zoey, Tiger (cats), Hershey, Mandy, Tabitha (Rabbits), Autumn, Jake Jr. (birds), and Zeke (salamander). Most were family pets, but a few belonged to a specific child. my first dog already had a name, tiffany. and my second was a rescue puppy that was originally named cocoa. I lived with my dad at the time, and we were talking about getting a dog, and had decided to name it buford. but when i saw him i knew it wasnt right, and my dad wanted to name him T2 (like tiffany 2, because tiffany had died and the new pupy was similar looking. somehow i knew his name should be Charlie. and even though my dad tried to fight it, he ended up staying Charlie.  

The Salamander named Zeke was mine, and the Love Bird, Autumn was mine too. In my experience, its good to come up with a name, but sometimes when you see the animal, the name just doesn't fit. Its fun to brainstorm names, but i think in the end, you have to see them to know if it works.

March 1, 2009 1:16 AM
 

maggie said:

wow - that is really surprising. I was all about the Labradoodle - guess I just lost $20. I had to do a little more research on why they picked the PWD, and found an OK description of it: obamadogadoption.com/.../portuguese-water-dog.html. It seems like a good choice the more I think about it, wish I had my $20 back though.

March 1, 2009 7:40 PM
 

Tina B. Tessina, PhD "Dr. Romance" said:

Our three small dogs came from the shelter, and two of them were named for their breeds Foxy (fox Terrier) and Pugsley (Puggle)but the little white (bichon/cocker) told me her name. It's Daisy, and I got it clear as day. So, even without kids, the naming process goes on.

You can see a picture of the dogs here www.tinatessina.com/complete.html

March 24, 2009 12:16 AM
 

Megan said:

My fiance named our one cat Rowdy(or Rowdie as he spells it) b/c he's a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, and their mascot is Rowdie. I named our other cat Duke b/c I had just watched The Notebook before I got him. We rescued our 4 year old english bulldog, and she came with the name Snickers-very fitting.

March 24, 2009 6:38 AM

About JeanneSager

Jeanne Sager is a writer who lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a dog and too many cats. She refuses to believe motherhood comes with pumpkin appliqued sweaters, and she';s not ready to apologize for having only one child. She writes about raising her kid in her own hometown and the mom stuff she's not embarrassed to own at her blog, Inside Out (http://jeannesager.blogspot.com), she's contributing editor of Grand Magazine, and she's a regular essayist here on Babble

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