Joe Biden's Dogs Officially Moved Into The White House With An Adorable Photo Shoot
On Sunday, Jan. 24, Major and Champ officially took on their role as first dogs as they joined President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. While President Biden and the first lady delayed moving their pups from Delaware to Washington, D.C., White House photographer Adam Schultz was on hand to capture how the new four-legged residents were settling in to their new digs over the weekend — and it's the adorable pupdate we've all been waiting for. These photos of Major and Champ Biden moving into the White House give fans glimpses of their unique personalities as they adapt to their new home.
Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden's press secretary, broke in his official Twitter account on Jan. 25, sharing retweets of the images, including MSNBC producer Michael Del Moro's post. Del Moro, who posted the images to Twitter on Monday, Jan. 25, revealed the first family brought their furry companions with them from Delaware a few days after moving in because they "wanted to get settled" first. Judging from the photos, it looks like the first pups are already making the White House their new home.
The first photo shows Champ, a German Shepherd who has been with the Bidens since 2008, laying on the lawn while Jill Biden pets him, while a second shows him striding towards the White House with his family. The other two photos show his brother Major — a German Shepherd rescue the Biden family adopted in 2018 from the Delaware Humane Association (a nonprofit no-kill animal care and adoption center) — frolicking on the White House lawn and running around with his tongue out.
LaRosa told Del Moro, "Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace and Major loved running around on the South Lawn."
Major and Champ's official move-in was a happy occasion for many dog lovers around the country, who were happy to see the Bidens bring back the tradition of the first family taking their pets to the White House — the Trumps didn't have any pets during President Donald Trump's presidency. Major is also the first shelter dog to reside at the White House — an honor that earned him his own virtual "indoguration" from the DHA on Jan. 17.
As if bringing back pups to the White House wasn't exciting enough, Jill Biden previously said during a November 2020 interview with Fox 5 that she was hoping to give Major and Champ a feline companion.
"I’d love to get a cat," she told the news outlet at the time. "I love having animals around the house."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki didn't have an update about the cat during a Sunday, Jan. 24 video, but she said she has high hopes for the White House's first feline since President George W. Bush's cat India. "I'm also wondering about the cat, because the cat is going to dominate the internet whenever the cat is announced and wherever that cat is found," Psaki said.
Only time will tell when the Bidens decide to make the jump and bring a cat into the fold, but it looks like fans can expect many more adorable updates from first pets Major and Champ in the meantime.
