Biden 'First Dogs' arrive at White House

Published January 26, 2021 4:51am

Major, one of the family dogs of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, explores the South Lawn after his arrival from Delaware at the White House in Washington, US January 24, 2021. Picture taken January 24, 2021. Adam Schultz/White House/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's dogs Champ and Major have moved into the White House, reviving a long-standing tradition of presidential pets that was broken under Donald Trump.

Champ and Major have joined us in the White House! ???????? pic.twitter.com/R035YnavVo
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) January 25, 2021

The pooches can be seen trotting on the White House grounds in pictures retweeted by First Lady Jill Biden's spokesman Michael LaRosa, with the pointed obelisk of the Washington Monument in the background.

"Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved running around on the South Lawn," LaRosa told CNN in a statement Monday.

The Bidens' dogs, both German shepherds, follow the pawprints of presidential pets that included Barack Obama's Bo, a black Portuguese water dog, and George W. Bush's Scottish terrier, Barney.

Trump, a famously finicky germophobe, broke with that convention -- as he did with many presidential traditions -- and never had a pet in his White House.

"How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn," Trump asked, with a grimace, in a video included in a Biden campaign ad. -- Agence France-Presse

Tags: joe_biden, JILL BIDEN, major, champ, dogs