I was shocked to read about the behavior of Joe Biden’s dog, Commander. According to a CNN report based on freedom of information requests, he bit Secret Service agents on twenty-four separate occasions between October 2022 and July 2023. There were also numerous other incidents involving the White House staff. These were not playful nips, either. The agents reported being bitten on the wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh and shoulder, with at least two bites requiring stitches.
On one occasion, an agent was bitten so badly that tours of the White House had to be suspended for twenty minutes while a janitor mopped up the blood. During his convalescence, the victim was given a care package by his colleagues that included painkillers, antibiotic ointment, pepper spray, a muzzle and dog biscuits “for safety purposes.”
I can’t help contrasting the fate of the Bidens’ dog with Leo, the Hungarian vizsla the Young family used to own
A source close to the Bidens told CNN that the family feels “awful” and “heartbroken” about Commander’s behavior, although you have to question how sincere they are, given that the German shepherd was allowed to prowl the corridors of the West Wing, unmuzzled, biting a member of the president’s Secret Service detail every fortnight for the best part of a year. Had Commander been a civilian dog, one of his victims would have sued the Bidens by now and a judge probably would have ordered him to be put down. But taking the president to court would be frowned upon in the Secret Service, so Commander continues to roam free, although mercifully he’s no longer in the White House.
I can’t help contrasting the fate of the Bidens’ dog with Leo, the Hungarian vizsla the Young family used to own. On returning from a walk in the park one day, Caroline let him out of the boot and he leapt over the wall separating our front garden from our neighbor’s and bit a delivery man. This didn’t come close to Commander’s level of aggression.
Admittedly, the man fell to the ground, clutching his leg, and starting screaming for an ambulance, but that was because he sensed an opportunity to cash in. When the paramedics arrived, they took one look at his injury and burst out laughing. The police, who also turned up, were equally unimpressed. A sympathetic officer told Caroline the man was clearly a “chancer” and she had nothing to worry about.
She thought that was the end of it, but the same officer returned fifteen minutes later and said he’d spoken to his sergeant and been told that any dog involved in a biting incident had to be taken into custody “for observation.” He seemed apologetic about it — “Sorry, love, but I’ve got no choice” — and gave her the impression she’d be reunited with Leo in a couple of hours. In fact, it was four months before we saw him again and in the interim Caroline was cautioned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. That meant we couldn’t keep him, because if he bit someone else she would be guilty of a second offense and might receive a prison sentence.
So we ended up having to rehouse him. When we’d got over the shock of this, we decided to buy another dog, only this time we opted for a cavapoochon. Mali is about a tenth of the size of Leo and much lower maintenance, but we are now faced with the opposite problem, namely, how to stop her being bitten. Twice now I have had to whisk Mali up into my arms to protect her from a much bigger dog. She was so traumatized by these incidents that she starts barking whenever she sees a labrador or an Alsatian, which of course doesn’t help because it immediately attracts their attention. I daren’t let her off the lead in any of the nearby parks in case an XL Bully spots her and thinks: “Scooby snack.”
The Bidens show no signs of wanting to trade in Commander for a more manageable breed. Indeed, their previous dog, also a German shepherd, had to be returned to their home in Delaware after a National Park Service worker was bitten on the White House lawn. “You turn a corner, and there’s two people you don’t know at all. And Major moves in to protect,” Biden told an ABC interviewer, as though biting people was perfectly normal for a dog.
Asked about the Bidens’ predilection for out-of-control canines, a White House spokesman said: “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. They remain grateful for the support of the US Secret Service and all involved as they continue to work through solutions.”
I can think of a solution: get a cavapoochon, though probably not a good idea to let it off the lead if Commander is anywhere in the vicinity.
This article was originally published in The Spectator’s UK magazine. Subscribe to the World edition here.
