
UPDATE:
Some good news.
First dog Major is out of the dog house and back in the White House after spending some days working with a trainer at the Biden’s home in Delaware.
Major and Champ returned to the White House just in time for National Puppy Day, March 23.
After going from an animal shelter to the White house, then to the dog house and finally back to the White House, perhaps Major’s roaming days are over.
Original Post:
Listening to my local NPR radio station this morning, the following “headline” caught my attention and curiosity: ”What Did Major Biden Gnaw and When Did He Gnaw It.”
I thought it was a clever play on words, but – more than that – it made me realize that we still have not gotten to the bottom of whatever caused the two White House German Shepherds – Major Biden and Champ – to be so unceremoniously escorted out of the White House and sent back to Wilmington, Delaware, a few days ago.
I love dogs, especially German Shepherds.
Ever since I was a young boy, I have had dogs – mostly German Shepherds.
When living in my native Ecuador, my first German Shepherd, “Dutchie” (below), was just as unceremoniously and unexpectedly sent away to a convent in a nearby town. I was told that he was becoming too aggressive towards me. To this day, I question that story.

The New York Post, one of the first to report the story, attributed the expulsion to Major Biden’s “ruff behavior,” whatever that is.
Major Biden, at age 3, is the youngest of the two White House dogs. He was adopted by the Bidens from the Delaware Humane Association in 2018 and is “full of zest” and inexperienced at White House living.

Champ is about 13 years old, and — having lived at Number One Observatory Circle and roamed around the West Wing for most of his life — knows better than to “ruff around” in such circles.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Major Biden “was surprised by an unfamiliar person and acted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual,” an injury that “was handled by the White House medical unit, with no further treatment needed.”
That evening, according to the Washington Post, a Secret Service official told the Post that Major Biden had nipped at an agent’s hand, “causing a minor injury and leaving a small mark. The skin was not punctured, and there was no bleeding…” The Post added, The agent resumed normal duties after the incident…”
When one reads about the nature and characteristics of German Shepherds, what jump out — in addition to their courage, intelligence and fierce loyalty – are the dog’s strongly protective nature, guarding instincts and suspicion of strangers. A perfect guard dog.
German Shepherd Dogs are also known to be very gentle with children and very protective of them.
It is my theory that when my dog Dutchie was exiled, he had been aggressive towards others when, following his instincts, he felt he had to protect me.
Since we don’t know the details of Major’s transgression, it is my guess that a natural instinct and a professional instinct may have clashed when Major believed his job of protecting was usurped by others and he interpreted a protective gesture towards the President or the First Lady as a threatening one and felt he had to respond in kind.
Being “dog people,” it is expected that the President and the First Lady will soon bring Major and Champ back from exile – after Major first attends a short reprogramming course to learn to peacefully share certain responsibilities.
We are “dog people,” too. One of our German Shepherds, Princesa, must have sensed this and one day she presented us with a litter of nine “of them.”