President Joe Biden said his rescue pup Major is out of the dog house and claimed the biting incident did not led to the German Shepherd b...
President Joe Biden said his rescue pup Major is out of the dog house and claimed the biting incident did not led to the German Shepherd being banished to Delaware.
The president defended his dog, saying the three-year-old Major didn't break the skin when he bit a security agent earlier this month and was just being protective. He also pointed out the pooch didn't break the skin in the incident.
'Look, Major was a rescue pup. Major did not bite someone and penetrate the skin,' he told ABC News. 'I guess what surprised me is the White House itself, living there. Every door you turn to, there's a guy there in a black jacket.'
He said the new living environment and all the new people around surprised the dog.
'You turn a corner, and there's two people you don't know at all,' Biden said. 'And he moves to protect. But he's a sweet dog. Eighty-five percent of the people there love him. He just-- all he does is lick them and wag his tail.'
The president noted 'the dog's being trained now' in Delaware but argued the pup wasn't banished for the being a bad boy.
'We’re in the process of having a training session,' he said.
'I didn't banish him to home. Jill was gonna be away for four days. I was gonna be away for two so we took him home,' he said.
President Joe Biden said his rescue pup Major is out of the dog house after biting incident
Earlier this month, three-year-old Major bit a security guard but President Biden said the dog was surprised and didn't break the skin
Joe and Jill Biden adopted Major from an animal shelter in November 2018 as a companion for their older dog Champ, also a German Shepherd.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also defended the dogs earlier this month.
She noted that Champ and Major are 'still getting acclimated and accustomed to their new surroundings and new people.'
She said Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed.'
She also denied the dogs, who she described as members of the Biden family, had been banished back to Biden's home state of Delaware for bad doggy behavior.
Psaki said it was 'pre-planned' to have Champ and Major cared for by a friend there while first lady Jill Biden is on a three-day trip to the West Coast, visiting military bases in Washington state and California.
'The dogs will return to the White House soon,' Psaki said during her daily press briefing although she did not give a specific date.
The White House defended President Joe Biden's two German Shepherds after the younger dog Major, being petted by President Biden, was reported to have bitten a security guard
The White House press secretary also had no update on the arrival of a White House cat. The Bidens said they would add a feline to their presidential menagerie.
'Today's a good day for the cat,' she said. 'I don't have any update on the cat. We know that the cat will break the Internet but I don't have any update on its status.'
Psaki was asked about the presidential pooches after a CNN report that Major had been displaying aggressive behavior including jumping, barking and charging at White House staff and security.
Major is the first rescue dog to have lived in the White House, having moved in after Biden's inauguration in January.
The Bidens adopted him as company for 14-year-old Champ after being told it would help the health of the older dog to have a younger companion.
President Biden pats Champ in the Rose Garden as Major looks on
Major was also 'inaugurated' three days before the presidential inauguration. The 'indoguration' featured a performance by Josh Groban, with over 7,400 people watching on Zoom. It raised $200,000 for the Delaware Humane Association
The dogs often feature in the background of Oval Office photos. Champ is pictured here during a meeting with senior advisers
Biden's predecessor Donald Trump did not have any pets at the White House.
First Lady Jill Biden said in an interview last month she had been focused on getting the dogs settled into their new home in Washington.
'They have to take the elevator, they're not used to that, and they have to go out on the South Lawn with lots of people watching them. So that's what I've been obsessed with, getting everybody settled and calm,' she said on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show.'
The dogs joined the Bidens at the White House shortly after they relocated to Washington.
Since then, they have been allowed to roam unleashed on the White House grounds and often feature in the background of Oval Office photos.
The dogs have been allowed to roam unleashed on the White House grounds
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, joined by White House Grounds Superintendent Dale Haney and her granddaughter Maisy Biden, play with the Biden's dogs Major and Champ on the South Lawn of the White House
'They really don't have any rules, they're really good dogs,' Biden told People.
'We trained them from the beginning,' Biden said. 'Champ is old, he's 14 years old and he was extremely well-trained by the Canine Corps and he thinks he's Secret Service, but Major, who is a big, little dog, is about a year-and-half-old and the only rule Jill has and he follows it: do not get up on the furniture.'
Champ and Major appeared in ads for the Biden campaign in 2020.
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