[wishbone]

The first family has decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog...

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Obama family chooses dog - Blogs from CNN.com

Hope it's not ill-tempered like Bush's dog

The PWD is a perfect dog for them! I am SO HAPPY they are not getting a doodle mix, talk abuot ill-tempered! They made a good choice with the PWD.

Oh, those are cool. I remember the first time I heard of the PWD was on a breed documentary about a family that chose the pwd as a therapy dog for their autistic son, and they were very very pleased with their choice.

That dog was soooo very lucky to be a part of the first family

I wish the Obamas luck with their first dog.
I just hope this doesn't start a trend like Paris Hilton did..

Well it is a hypoallergenic dog for his girls.

and with a good temperament instead of a labradoodle (they are all mean... I can see the headlines now... Obama child mauled by family labradoodle)

Originally Posted by GoldenJedi

Well it is a hypoallergenic dog for his girls.

That will put a stop to all those 'must sell due to allergy' ad's!

[diamond5592]

Wow that is very intereseting

[DoggieVogue]

I am very disapointed to hear that they have chosen a rare purebred dog rather than a mixed breed. According to the Humane Society of the United States 8-10 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year and 4-5 million of them are euthanized each year. Choosing such a rare breed dog sets a poor example for Americans to follow when shelters are so overloaded with unwanted mixed breeds. A quick search on petfinder.com found 4 Portuguese water dogs available for adoption, a low number in comparison to the thousands of Beagles, Labradors, Chihuahuas, and Pit Bulls.

[DoggieVogue]

Oh and I also wanted to mention...since hearing that a Portugese Water Dog was their choice, I have seen two portugese water dog puppies at the local park. I have never even seen one of these until now!

In my state there are lots of very nice PWD's. The ones I know range in age from about a year old to 12 years old (I have yet to see any young pups). I have also groomed many over the years. They are in no way a rare breed and in my years experience with dogs I have found that families with kids take a large safety risk getting a dog with unknown history. Rescue is fantastic and I highly recommend it but NOT for people with children under 12! Just not worth the risk. I know many many nice families who kids have been bitten by rescue dogs, WHILE the parents were there (so no they were not left unattended, etc.). I do not know any kids bitten by purebred dogs from reputable breeders, only shelter dogs, petshop puppies and those from backyard breeders.

[DoggieVogue]

I don't know what you consider rare....but if you search on Petfinder.com, there are currently only 3 purebred PWDs in the entire United States that are up for adoption. Where as if you search for example chihuahua there are TONS of results (not saying that that would be the best dog for them, but it was just an example). Where did you get the idea that rescue if not for families with children under 12??? Not all shelter dogs were put there because they are "bad dogs". In this economy, where people are loosing their homes and everything they have, some people can't afford their dogs anymore and have to put them into a shelter. Or if you are downsizing from a house to an apartment that doesn't allow dogs, you have to take your dog to a shelter! You don't even need to worry about having to adopt an adult dog, because there are TONS of puppies that have been rescued from puppy mills available for adoption.

Also, Obama IS planning on rescuing a PWD, so that isn't even the problem. The problem that I have with it is that while there are so many dogs and puppies available for adoption, I believe they are setting a bad example by choosing more of a rare breed. This is going to set a high demand for this breed. There not enough of them available in shelters, which is going to cause more people to breed them... and there are just way too many good dogs available at animal shelters.

Not ALL dogs in shelters are bad I just think that if you have young children you are taking a risk adopting a dog with an unknown history. I have been training and grooming dogs for about 13 years and deal with countless rescue dogs who are very nice. On the other side I know many dogs from shelters that are violently aggressive with dogs, have attacked their adopters, bitten children, etc.

Yes, they are not ALL like that but there are many that are.

In terms of the Obama's rescuing a PWD... they did their research and are getting a breed that is RIGHT for them. Did you know that one of the main reasons dogs end up in shelters is because people did not research the breed before buying one. Would you rather the Obama's get the wrong breed for them just to make a "good impression"? They have a child who is allergic to dogs and this limits the breeds they are able to own. I believe they wanted a larger dog, so this eliminates many of the breeds as most of them are smaller breeds (bichons, terriers, etc.). Or worse yet... would you rather they get "doodle" (thousands of which are in shelters now) and promote irresponsable breeding of "designer mutts"

Why do you guys think the Obamas chose Portugese Water Dog?
I am not familiar with this breed (behavior, etc...)

I HAVE heard of the PWD. I wanted one so much. I still do. I was in the process of getting one, and had books and food and everthing ready. But, plans fell through. Good for them though.

[Prisca]

That's quite interesting ay
i live in NZ and i don't think there is actually much PWD around.

[stellasmama]

Our Dog is a Schnoodle.....but Daily...and I am not exaggerating....someone will ask...."Is that a Portuguese Water Dog?"

No, I’m not a Portuguese Water Dog…Thanks for Asking….. Stella!!!

Daily! We say, "No, She's a Schnoodle." A girl at PetQuarters tried to convince me I didn't know what my dog is!

Which she was a rescue dog....so short of a dna test...we don't really know....I'm siding with our vet who says Schnoodle.