1) Portuguese Water Dogs, while more popular than, say, Otterhounds, are NOT an extremely common or popular breed.

2) In my time being involved with shelters, rescue, and dog sports, I've heard of EXACTLY 1 PWD that actually made it in to a shelter. MOST shelters are EAGER to work with breed rescues (look it up, people--breed rescues are organzations of breeders of and lovers of a particular breed who take in, evaluate, care for, and find homes for that particular breed. They do not, as a general rule, have facilities, and exist on volunteer donations and foster homes). A shelter that can get a known purebred into a breed rescue will then have room to save OTHER dogs. The shelters I volunteered at ALWAYS attempted to get hold of breed rescue before making a known purebred available for adoption. The rescues generally deal with fewer dogs, and have better resources for evaluating their breed.

3) PWD rescue is known for being VERY active and pulling their breed from kill shelters/pounds/etc. as soon as they can.

4) They needed a breed that their daughter would be less likely to be allergic to, and they wanted a larger, active breed. PWDs are a good choice, but waiting around for a PWD to show up in a shelter in DC or whatever would have been sorta futile at best, and at WORST might have spurred some idiot or another to get a PWD into a shelter, by hook or by crook. And then sued to get their dog back. Yeah, THAT's a good idea.

"They needed a breed that their daughter would be less likely to be allergic to, and they wanted a larger, active breed. PWDs are a good choice, but waiting around for a PWD to show up in a shelter in DC or whatever would have been sorta futile at best,"

I agree with you that PWD are few and far between...

This guy is the president of the US, isn't he? He has thousands of people that work for him. He couldn't plan ahead to see if it was possible to adopt a PWD as a rescue? In other words, he made an empty promise that was impossible keep, (esp. since he never made an attempt).

Hope he makes better plans the next time he makes a decision that involves the country.

"Hope he makes better plans the next time he makes a decision that involves the country."

Oh. Good. Lord. Did you take time out from your contemplation of whether or not the color of the man's socks represent some sort of anti-American sentiment to come up with this statement?

It's a DOG, for pete's sake! And a "second chance" dog that was a gift, not a special-order designer dog, as Newsweek feared it would be ("the Obamas may cause an increase in puppy mills!", or something like that ...)

Maybe some of those thousands of people he has working for him actually WERE taking the time to search local shelters ("Oh, no, he's only interested in BELTWAY strays?!?!?") or nationally ("Oh, no, he's going to ship some poor animal all the way across the country?!?!?!") for a PWD when Ted Kennedy offered up a way to put an end to the madness (see Newsweek article noted above) ...

Uh-oh, I just suggested that the President might have been putting resources to finding a dog for his daughters ... "THE PRESIDENT IS PUTTING THE SEARCH FOR A PET AHEAD OF THE NEEDS OF THE COUNTRY!!!"

He could also have chosen a Labradoodle. A shelter in Winnipeg had a litter of 5 and personally contacted him offering him his choice. That would have been a good opportunity for a rescue and a "hypoallergenic" dog.

Actually, since a Labradoodle is NOT a breed (it's a "designer dog", or a deliberate mix if you will) there would have been a LOT more bitching and moaning about that. And considering that "Labradoodles" (and other "doodles") have been selling for ridiculous prices, how did that litter end up in a shelter? (i.e., how do they know they're "labradoodles")

And how do they know that the coat will be more "doodle" than Lab? The whole point of getting a dog with "hair" is to lessen the possibility of an allergic reaction.