Bidens announce death of 'first dog' Champ (updated)

Champion Bear Resources

19/06/2021 17:47

(Adds details and background)
    By Valerie Volcovici and Nandita Bose
    WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden and
first lady Jill Biden on Saturday announced the passing of their
German shepherd Champ, who they called a "constant, cherished
companion" for 13 years.
    "In our most joyful moments and in our most grief-stricken
days, he was there with us, sensitive to our every unspoken
feeling and emotion. We love our sweet, good boy and will miss
him always," the Bidens said in a statement.
    Champ was one of two German shepherds living at the White
House with the president and first lady. Biden got Champ in
2008, the year he was elected vice president under President
Barack Obama. 
    Champ lived alongside Major, who the Bidens adopted in
November 2018 and became the first rescue dog to live in the
White House. Major had to be briefly removed from the premises
after two incidents of nipping staff on White House grounds.
    Major returned to the White House in April after being sent
to an off-site training so he could adjust to life in the White
House.
    The arrival of Champ and Major marked the return of pets to
the White House after a four-year hiatus under former President
Donald Trump, who was the first president since Andrew Johnson
in the 1860s not to share the presidential digs with a dog or a
cat.
    Champ lived with the Bidens when the current president
served as vice president and spent his days, "chasing golf balls
on the front lawn of the Naval Observatory." 
    "Even as Champ's strength waned in his last months, when we
came into a room, he would immediately pull himself up, his tail
always wagging, and nuzzle us for an ear scratch or a belly
rub," the statement said. 
    The Bidens have also addressed the idea of getting a cat.
"She is waiting in the wings," Jill Biden said in April. 

 (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Daniel Wallis and
Diane Craft)
 ((valerie.volcovici@thomsonreuters.com;))