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President Biden pats Champ: "Everything was immediately better when he was next to us"
Photo: White House / ZUMA Wire / imago images
The United States First Family mourns the loss of their German Shepherd, Champ. At the age of 13, the family dog died peacefully on Saturday, the White House announced. “Even as Champ's strength waned in his final months, he would straighten up as soon as we walked into a room, always wagging his tail and snuggling up to us to scratch his ears or caress his stomach,” one says Family statement. "He wanted to be wherever we were, and everything was immediately better when he was next to us."
Champ was one of two dogs the president's family moved into the White House with in early 2021.
Major, another German Shepherd, last made the headlines for injuring several people.
Biden's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, described the first incident awkwardly in early March: "Major" had been surprised by an "unknown person" and reacted in a way that led to a "minor injury" in this person.
Biden also downplayed the incident in an interview and emphasized that "Major" was a "cute dog" who only got a fright when two unknown people suddenly appeared around a corner.
"Choose your person wisely"
Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, was the first president in more than 100 years to not bring a dog into the White House. “What would I look like if I were walking a dog on the White House lawn?” Trump asked once. Biden used this in the election campaign for an ironic commercial with the title: »Choose your people wisely«.
The obituary published by the White House on social networks shows how great the president's affection was for his deceased pet.
Champ's younger age is where he was happiest "chasing golf balls on the Naval Senior Service lawn or chasing our grandchildren when they were walking around our Delaware garden."
He was sensitive to every unspoken feeling and emotion.
"We love our sweet, good boy and will always miss him," wrote the Biden family.
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