It’s time to finally say goodbye to current President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, as he’s been banished from the White House. This news comes after multiple biting incidents have been reported, with some being worse than were originally disclosed.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden recently had to make the difficult decision of banishing their dog, Commander, from the White House after multiple reported biting incidents. The Secret Service reportedly experienced 11 bites by Commander that ranged from requiring hospital treatment to never being reported.
This story is made even more interesting since Major, another former family pet, was also exiled for similar behavioral issues with biting.
President Biden’s 2-year-old dog, Commander, has been removed from the White House after the German shepherd bit staffers and Secret Service officers, the White House said. https://t.co/tx09H9rUMH
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 5, 2023
Records acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that members of the Secret Service had been bitten multiple times by Commander. CNN reported on Thursday, October 5, that this number is actually higher than 11 – with some bites being severe enough for hospital treatment and other ones going unreported completely. The last recorded bite was on September 25th of this year according to news sources.
Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for Secret Service, stated that there is no complete number of biting incidents involving Commander due to some cases going unreported which makes it an even more troubling situation.
As far as why this happened in the first place? Ryan Bulson – president of Mid-Atlantic German Shepherd Rescue – said it might have something to do with consistency or lack thereof when it came to handling the canine companion. “It’s a German shepherd,” he said during an interview with CNN, “They need structure. They need consistency. They need boundaries.”
Bulson went on further saying dogs like these are guardians breeds and if you don’t have any sort of consistency amongst different people holding onto its leash then it can be problematic as no one will be giving off clear commands which leaves room open for confusion and miscommunication between both human and canine alike.
He ended his statement saying at the end of day we should feel bad not only for those who were bitten but also for the dog Commander who wasn’t given what he needed in order to be successful in its new home environment at The White House.
Recent photos obtained by UK’s Daily Mail showed Dale Haney – superintendent of White House grounds – holding out his left forearm while having Commander’s teeth surrounding it. A senior White House official told NBC News however that Haney played down this incident saying there was “no pressure of teeth on his skin” just some slobber instead.
