Biden's dog Major caused 'minor' injury: White House

Biden's two dogs "are still getting acclimated and accustomed to their new surroundings and new people," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

On Monday Major, a 3-year-old German Shepherd, "was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual," she said.

Psaki didn't identify who was bitten, and said the incident was handled by the White House medical unit with "no further treatment needed."

CNN reported Monday evening that Major had bitten a security staff member. A White House official separately told NBC News the pets were with family friends in Delaware while first lady Jill Biden travels this week.

The first lady, who is visiting military bases in Washington state and California through Wednesday, has said she has been trying to settle the two German Shepherds into their new 18-acre home in Washington, D.C., since Biden took office in January.

The two dogs had already been scheduled to stay with a family friend in Delaware before the injury, Psaki said.

Biden adopted Major in November 2018 from the Delaware Humane Society. Champ joined the family in 2008 when Biden was elected vice president under President Barack Obama.

Jill Biden last month noted that the canines had to get used to the White House as well as its many staffers.

"I've been getting obsessed with getting our dogs settled because we have an old dog and we have a very young dog," she told "The Kelly Clarkson Show" in a Feb. 28 interview. "So that's what I've been obsessed with, getting everybody settled and calm."

In 2008, as former President George W. Bush was winding down his second term, his Scottish Terrier Barney bit the finger of a Reuters reporter who was trying to pet him.

The White House has no update on the Biden family's plans to get a cat, Psaki said.