Joe Biden’s dog ‘bit staff 24 times in one year’
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Joe Biden’s dog Commander was involved in at least 24 biting incidents over 12 months, it has emerged.
The two-year-old German Shepherd was exiled from the White House last October and sent to an undisclosed location.
A freedom of information request by CNN laid bare the extent of the pet’s unruly behaviour.
The station received hundreds of documents which revealed that the dog’s behaviour was causing alarm among members of the Secret Service assigned to protect the US president.
“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room,” one email read.
Agents were told to be “creative to ensure our own personal safety”.
Commander remained at the White House for three months after that email was sent.
In one incident, at the president’s beach house in Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, a Secret Service agent was bitten while walking in the backyard.
According to the report, the bite caused a severe open wound, with the agent losing a considerable amount of blood and requiring six stitches.
More than 10 other incidents required medical treatment.
Commander arrived at the White House as a puppy in 2021. He was a gift from Mr Biden’s younger brother, James.
He was the second of the Bidens’ dogs to be banished after Major, another German shepherd. He was sent to live with friends in Delaware.
He reportedly “nipped someone while on a walk” in March 2021, weeks after biting another member of the security team.
At the time, the White House press team said Major was “still adjusting to his new surroundings”.
Mr Biden insisted that Major, who was rescued from an animal shelter in 2018, was a “sweet dog”.
While he was president-elect, Mr Biden fractured his foot while playing with Major in Deleware. It required him to wear a walking boot for several months.
The Bidens believed that the dogs’ unruly behaviour had been triggered by the stressful White House environment.
Champ, who was always considered more docile, died in 2021 aged 13.
Pets have been a long tradition at the White House.
Bill Clinton had a tuxedo cat called Socks. The Obamas bought a Portuguese water dog called Bo.
While dogs were the most common pets, other incumbents of the White House had more exotic tastes.
John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Harrison kept alligators. Martin Van Buren, two tiger cubs, and William Henry Harris had a cow.
Abraham Lincoln had an extensive menagerie including a pig, two goats a couple of dogs, a turkey and a horse.
But even he could not compare with Theodore Roosevelt who had more than 40 pets, including a garter snake, guinea pigs, several dogs and Bill the Lizard.
The Telegraph has approached the White House for comment.
