What Breeds of Dogs Have the Obamas Considered?
President Obama once joked that choosing a dog proved to be “tougher than finding a Commerce secretary.”
There was one big consideration: Malia, like an estimated 10 percent of Americans, is allergic to dogs. President Obama has referred to the need to get a “hypoallergenic dog.” But he also said they wanted to get a dog from a shelter.
“Obviously, a lot of shelter jokes are mutts like me,” joked Obama, referencing his mixed heritage.
After the election, then President-elect Barack Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that they’d narrowed it down to a Labradoodle or a Portuguese water dog, due mainly to the allergy issue. At one point, a goldendoodle was mentioned.
Portuguese water dogs were working dogs, helping fisherman on Portuguese boats as early as the 1200s.
In an interview with People magazine in February 2009, Michelle Obama seemed even more convinced that a Portuguese Water dog from a rescue organization will most likely be their choice. And it may not be a puppy.
“Temperamentally, they’re supposed to be really good,” Mrs. Obama told People. “From the size perspective, they’re sort of middle of the road—it’s not small, but it’s not a huge dog. And the folks that we know who own them have raved about them”
A Labradoodle is crossbred between a Labrador retriever and a poodle and has only been intentionally bred since the late 1980s.
Neither dog is actually hypoallergenic (no dog is, say allergists), but both aren’t prone to shedding much, which should help avoid allergy symptoms despite the fact that dogs’ saliva and dander can also cause a reaction.
The choices drew some criticism, as some consider Labradoodles (not a “breed” by literal definition) to be “designer dogs.” Some people concerned with animal rights fear that the Obama family’s choice of dog could spur short-term interest or trend in that particular type of dog, which will later flood animal shelters if their owners tire of them or find that they don’t fit with their families. Unscrupulous breeders could also rush to get new dogs out, compromising the puppies’ health in the process. (Something like this was said to have happened after the movie 101 Dalmatians led to an increase in Dalmatian purchases and adoptions.)