“The First Family wanted to settle down before bringing the dogs from Delaware to Washington. Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved to run across the southern lawn,” said the First Lady’s press secretary. Jill Biden, Michael LaRosa, to CNN in a statement Monday.
The move of the Bidens’ dogs marks a return to a long tradition of presidents and their families bringing their pets to the White House. Former President Donald Trump and his family have had no pets during the four years they lived in the White House.
Champ has been with the Biden family for more than 10 years – since December 2008, weeks after Biden became Barack Obama’s elected vice president. Major, a shelter dog, joined the Biden family more recently. He was adopted in November 2018, months before Biden announced he would run for president in the 2020 election cycle.
Although he is the White House’s first shelter dog, Major is not the first rescue. A shelter usually receives government funding, while animal rescue is usually done entirely by volunteers.
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s daughter, Luci, rescued a half-breed puppy abandoned by its owner at a gas station in Texas called Yuki. Former President Bill Clinton’s family cat, Socks, was also a rescue.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday that she had made no updates about the cat.
“I’m also thinking about the cat, because the cat will dominate the internet whenever the cat is advertised and wherever it is found,” said Psaki in a Sunday night video answering questions asked on Twitter.
The tradition of keeping pets in the White House goes back to Thomas Jefferson, who kept a nightingale and two bear cubs during his presidency. Over the years, presidential pets have become something of a celebrity.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kate Bennett contributed to this story.