In March 2021, less than two months after Joe Biden moved into the White House, we learned that a member of his family had landed in the proverbial doghouse. We speak, of course, of Major, the Bidens’ German shepherd, who was involved in a “biting incident” with a member of White House security and subsequently sent to the family’s house in Delaware to think about what he’d done. That December, following the death of Major’s adopted brother, Champ, the president and first lady brought a new pup into the fold named Commander, who went on to bite Secret Service agents not once, not twice, but 10—10!—times. At that point, you might have expected someone to be all “Okay, we gave him 10 chances, but this dog’s gotta live elsewhere.” But someone was not! Which Commander apparently took as an open invitation to keep munching on flesh.
CNN reports the wild news that Commander “bit another US Secret Service agent at the White House Monday evening,” marking “the 11th known biting incident involving the two-year-old German shepherd.” In a statement, USSS chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi told the outlet: “Yesterday around 8 p.m., a Secret Service Uniformed Division police officer came in contact with a first family pet and was bitten. The officer was treated by medical personnel on complex.” In July, the White House said that “additional leashing protocols and training” were being implemented and that “designated areas for Commander to run and exercise” were being established. Apparently, though, the protocols and training did not take.
Emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests by the conservative group Judicial Watch revealed that in November 2022, an officer was hospitalized after Commander, per CNN, “clamped down on their arms and thighs.” In an incident a month prior, the first lady “couldn’t regain control” of Commander as he charged at a member of the Secret Service.
Speaking to CNN, former USSS agent Jonathan Wackrow called Commander’s biting spree a “significant hazard” for agents at the White House. “There’s uniqueness here where it’s the residence of the president of the United States, but it’s also the workplace for hundreds, thousands of people,” he said. “And you can’t bring a hazard into the workplace. And that’s what is essentially happening with this dog. One time you can say it’s an accident, but now multiple incidents, it’s a serious issue.”
