January 12, 2009

After nearly a year of speculation, President-elect Barack Obama and his family are close to selecting the First Dog, which will likely either be a Portuguese Water Dog, pictured left, or a Labradoodle. (Pet Pulse Illustration by

While their father handles a deepening recession, cabinet appointments and a crisis in the Middle East, the Obama girls clearly have another thing on their mind: a new puppy, which the President-elect yesterday said the family is close to selecting.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama family has come to town, and will finally soon be joined by a much anticipated addition to the clan: a puppy, which President-elect Obama promised his two young daughters last year.

Like their father, Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, seem to know what they want -- and how to get it.

"They seem to have narrowed it down to a labradoodle or a Portuguese Water hound [Sic]," Obama told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on ABC News' "This Week" yesterday.

"We're now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up."

The hunt for a perfect White House pooch is hopefully almost over, Obama said, after a long and highly publicized journey.

"We're closing in on it. This has been tougher than finding a commerce secretary," he joked, referring to his selection of Bill Richardson for the position. The New Mexico Governor later withdrew his nomination, after speculation of his engagement in "play-to-pay" politics rose to the surface.

Both of the Obama girls' potential breed selections, Labradoodles -- a hybrid of a poodle and a Labrador retriever -- and the Portuguese Water Dog are considered hypoallergenic, a requirement for Malia, who suffers from allergies.

The designer labradoodle, which is not an accepted breed by the American Kennel Club, began to be bred in the mid 1980s. The Portuguese Water Dog, on the other hand, dates back to the 1200s, when it worked on boats with Portuguese fishermen.

Perhaps the Obama girls took a tip from Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose Portuguese Water Dogs, Splash and Sunny, frequently accompany him on the Senate floor.

The Obama family have spoken of their intent to adopt from a shelter or rescue group, but at the same time, as Obama noted in his first press conference following the election, "a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me."

Many animal advocates and Obama supporters alike have closely followed the Obama's search for a dog, a point of discussion that has repeatedly come up in press conferences and interviews.

Obama formally announced his promise on election night to his daughters, telling them, "I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."

Yet, the family has been discussing the plan for more than a year, with interviews dating back to before Obama was even formally selected as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Regardless of the First Dog's breed, or point of origin, one thing is for sure: it will have some company in Washington, D.C., joined by Vice President-elect Joe Biden's new puppy, German Shepherd his grandchildren named "Champ."

Biden had also said that he will adopt another dog from a shelter, providing Champ a playmate. The move may have also acted as a conciliatory bone to the animal activist community, which criticized his decision to not adopt a rescue dog to begin with.

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USA Today, The New York Times, Newsday and the Agence France-Presse contributed to this article.