A Portuguese water dog it is!

So here it is: The First Family has decided on a Portuguese water dog. Just like Fernando who goes to our dog park. !  Go Fernando!   (He's the one sitting alone in the photo above, my dog Tess is under the bench). Good choice. They seem to be great dogs.

First Lady Michelle Obama told People magazine that her family has decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog, pointing to the breed's medium-sized and good-natured reputation. The breed is also hypoallergenic -- a must, given daughter Malia's allergy to dogs.

The first lady said her daughters will have to wait until the end of April to get the dog, since her family is planning on going away for Spring Break.

The only thing left to pick is the name, and Mrs. Obama said she is not a fan of her daughters' choices.

"There are names floating around and they're bad," Mrs. Obama said in the interview. "You listen and you go - like, I think, Frank was one of them. Frank! Moose was another one of them. Moose. I said, well, what if the dog isn't a moose? Moose. I'm like, no, come on, let's work with the names a little bit."

 

You can read more about the breed on the AKC Web site and also here at another dog breed site. And PetPlace also has some good info on the dogs. (Does the White House have a swimming pool?) They're described as friendly and active with webbed feet, making them terrific swimmers.

So now what to name the First Dog?

Some suggestions I kind of like (some are mine, others came from elsewhere) include: Liberty. Patriot. Freedom. Justice. Change. Hope. Bailout.

Or how about DOTUS (a take-off on POTUS, President of the United States)? I kind of like that one, though I'm sorry to say I didn't think of it. (Someone also suggested FIDOTUS, but that might a bit cumbersome to call).

They could also go for a water or fishing name -- or look to Portugal, to reflect the dog's origins. Like Fernando! I love Fernando.

Anyway, we'd really like to hear what you think about a name, so send them in via comments or emails and we'll post them.  

General guidelines say that a dog's name should be easy to pronounce and probably should end in a vowel sound since pets hear those sounds better. Nicknames for dogs usually wind up that way anyhow. (So Patriot might wind up Patty, Justice could end up being Justy, DOTUS would probably morph into Dody or Dodo, etc.) It should be something with no more than 2 syllables, or so the expert namers say.  

They say you should always make sure whatever name you pick is something that won't embarrass you when calling out the dog's name in public, of course.

Oh, the suspense, the pressing issues of our day.

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