A PWD for the Obamas?

The dog world is a-twitter: Michelle Obama confessed in a People Magazine interview that they were looking for a PWD. There's been no mention of a "doodle" for weeks. It seems that they have officially narrowed in on the breed.

I've not been "in the breed" long. But I think, perhaps, that gives me a unique viewpoint to what the Obamas face. You see, 5 years ago The Spouse and I were also in the same position as Barack and Michelle (minus the fact that one of us wasn't leader of the free world). We were looking for a hypoallergenic dog, medium to large in size, that fit in with our active lifestyle. We were first-time owners, though we'd both grown up with dogs. So Lucky was the first dog either of us has trained on our own, from scratch.

Let's just say "It's been interesting." But photos tell the story better. All of the following photos are from the last week in our house.

Noble. Stately. The PWD is an ancient breed.

They do love to snuggle though. PWDs are "people" dogs - they do not do well when separated from their pack members.

They can also be very cush. A PWD without a good leader will walk all over their human owners. They need a firm but compassionate hand.

Sometimes they like getting a little TOO snuggly.... but a well-trained PWD is a devoted and loyal companion.

PWDs make good watch dogs. They were used for centuries on Portuguese fishing boats and one of their duties was to guard the catch.

HOWEVER...

the breed seems to be constantly striving for bipedality. They are notorious counter-surfers - a trait which even the best trainers and behaviorists state is simply genetic. They love being on eye level with everyone, which results in an almost un-extinguishable jumping-up behavior.

The aforementioned counter-surfing leads the PWD to steal all sorts of items - the stinkier or more dangerous, the better. Here, Lucky has stolen The Spouse's winter hat that they wear on their walks together.

Not only do they steal items, but they feel very little shame over such thefts. In fact, they brazenly parade their thefts in front of their mentally-slower owners. Should the owner be intelligent enough to not engage in a game of chase, the dog simply regards their owner with a "What?" expression when the item is recovered.

Should the Obamas choose to add a PWD to their family, this may answer one of the most important questions of this administration:

Mr. President - Boxers or Briefs?