Obamas narrow in on presidential pup

Washington: It is a decision of national concern, complicated by symbolism and the medical welfare of children, by irreconcilable demands and irrevocable choice. Pleas from the public pour into the Obama transition team. Lobbyists lobby, pressure groups press.

President-elect Barack Obama said recently that the decision has been more wrenching than choosing a commerce secretary.

After he narrowed his choice on Sunday to the Portuguese water dog and the Labradoodle, Senator Edward Kennedy weighed in with a statement supporting his preference for the "Portie", as it is known.

Kennedy owns three of them. However, it is known that the son of Vice President-elect Joe Biden has a Labradoodle named Brother, and pressure may be strong from that quarter.

Dog purists are pleased that the first family's tastes have veered away from the common mutt.

But the animal welfare lobby wants Obama to live up to his promise to rescue a pup from a shelter. "A lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me," Obama joked at a news conference.

Shelters are filled with abandoned animals that are often euthanised if they are not adopted.

But the two designer breeds the Obamas favour are hard, if not impossible, to find at shelters. "I don't remember having seen a lot of Labradoodles," Washington Humane Society President Lisa LaFontaine said. Will the mutt lobbyist go so far as to put a child's health in danger?

The family research has been handled by elder daughter Malia, 10, who is allergic to dogs that shed and took the lead in narrowing the search to the two hypoallergenic breeds recently announced. Sasha, 7, is no doubt consulting.

Malia "disseminates information to the powers that be," an aide said. "She's been leading the way on this."

The Obamas, who have not owned a dog before, plan to bring the puppy home in the spring, when things settle down and the weather is nicer for romps around the White House lawn, a transition aide said.

Some in the animal world are bound to be disappointed by the final choice. But Democratic strategists are convinced a puppy photo op will wipe away ill feelings.

"These are remarkably cute kids," strategist Jim Jordan said, "and the picture of any puppy is going to be irresistible to America."