President Biden’s dog Commander takes a walk outside the West Wing on April 29, 2023.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Carolyn Kaster/AP
President Biden’s dog Commander has bitten another Secret Service officer, the most recent in a string of unpleasant encounters between the dog and the people who protect the White House complex.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the officer was bitten on Monday evening, and was treated by medical personnel at the White House.
The German shepherd is known to have bitten several agents a total of 10 times between October 2022 and January 2023 — incidents that came to light through a lawsuit filed by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.
The White House had said that it was working on “additional leashing protocols and training” for Commander, and has noted that the busy White House grounds can be stressful for pets.
This is the second Biden dog that has bitten agents. The first was Major, a dog they adopted from a shelter and brought to the White House in 2021. But after a couple of biting incidents, Major was went to live with a family friend in Delaware. The Bidens got Commander as a puppy later that year, in December 2021.