President Joe Biden's dog, Commander, had at least two dozen biting incidents with U.S. Secret Service agents before being moved out of the White House, prompting the Secret Service to adjust operating protocols at not only the White House but also Camp David and Biden's Delaware homes, according to internal documents.
The documents themselves were first obtained by John Greenewald of the government transparency group The Black Vault through a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents detail Secret Service agents' efforts to work around the German shepherd and catalog each individual biting incident.
The documents mention 24 separate biting incidents occurring between October 2022 and July 2023 but do not appear to have accounted for all of the agents' encounters with the dog. Reports regarding Commander's aggressive behavior began surfacing in spring last year, and he was eventually sent to an undisclosed location in fall 2023.
“Team, Please reply ASAP if you have been bitten by the First Family Pet (Commander). Negative replies are also requested,” one assistant special agent in charge wrote in an email dated June 14, 2023. The names of both the sender and recipients had been redacted in the documents turned over to Greenewald.
“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present â please give lots of room (staying a terrain feature away if possible),” an agent from the Presidential Protection Division added in an email dated June 29, 2023.
The agent noted that the president's protective detail would continue to keep Biden “in our sight” at all times but noted they “must be creative to ensure our own personal safety.”
A number of the agents bitten by Commander required medical attention, including one agent who stumbled upon the dog at Biden's Rehoboth Beach home on July 29.
That person did not realize Commander was off his leash, and the subsequent bite resulted in “a severe deep open wound” and losing “a significant amount of blood.”
“Iâm glad it wasnât your pitching arm!” a supervisor later wrote to the agent in question in an email, noting that other Secret Service staff had put together a “small care package” for them.
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“The U.S. Secret Service takes the safety and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously, and has been navigating how to best operate in an environment that includes family pets for many Presidential administrations,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “The incidents involving Commander were treated as workplace injuries, with events documented in accordance with Secret Service and US Department of Homeland Security guidelines. While Secret Service personnel neither handle nor care for the first familyâs pets, we work continuously with all applicable entities in order to minimize any adverse impacts from family pets.”
“The president and first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day,” added Elizabeth Alexander, first lady Jill Biden's communications director. “Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander. Since the fall, he has lived with other family members.”
