Dollmaker Turns From First Daughters to Dog

Obama's have already met their new pup, some say

(NEWSER) - The Obamas have picked a dog, and he'll be joining them in the White House soon, WBBM 780 in Chicago reports. Michelle Obama's office helped establish a timeline—"definitely not this week"—but a source tells the radio station the male Portuguese water dog has already visited the White House. Sen. Dick Durbin confirmed that a dog had been chosen and said it was undergoing training while the senior Obamas were traveling in Europe. More»

Nope. Bo didn't go to Hawaii with Michelle...

(NEWSER) - Oh-oh. The star of the Obamas' holiday card is in trouble again. After the first family got a shellacking from Sarah Palin for featuring their dog, Bo, alone, on their White House greetings, they're now under fire for transporting the dog all the way back from Hawaii just to appear in a photo op with the president during a shopping trip in Virginia. It must have been expensive to ship Bo from Hawaii, where a neighbor reported seeing the Portuguese water dog and the first daughters, reports Politico . Not so, according to the White House: Bo didn't actually travel to Hawaii with Michelle and the girls. The family who reported spotting Bo in the Aloha state said: "We would like to apologize to Bo and the Obama family for any inconvenience this may have caused them." More»

Obama family's Portuguese water dog was a gift from Ted Kennedy

(NEWSER) - The Obama family's Portuguese water dog, Bo, cost $1,600, according to financial disclosure documents made public today. The scoop on Bo's price tag is the most interesting tidbit from the forms; President Obama's financial situation was made clear when his tax returns were released last month, the Washington Post notes . More»

Eco-friendly lights, 27 trees liven up the full-size executive mansion

(NEWSER) - Everyone got into the act of readying the White House for the holidays—staffers and volunteers who helped with decorating, community groups whose members created ornaments, and even the White House bees, whose honey went into the gingerbread that became a 390-pound replica of the executive mansion. At the bottom of the steps of the building Michelle Obama called "a gingerbread masterpiece" is a tiny black-and-white marzipan creation, the Chicago Tribune reports. Yes, dog lovers, that's Bo. More»

(NEWSER) - Dale Haney has been wrangling White House animals since 1976, but these days his responsibilities are much diminished, insiders tell US News & World Report. “He doesn’t see Bo as much because the girls and Mrs. Obama, the whole family, is taking care of Bo, so Dale has been demoted a bit,” a staffer says. “He misses the dogs.” More»