Sunny, the Obamas’ Portuguese water dog, dies at 13

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Sunny, the Portuguese water dog who romped into the White House at the start of President Barack Obama’s second term and injected the mansion with playful — at times, too playful — energy, has died. She was 13.

The former first dog’s death was announced on social media by the former president, who described the pet as a “cherished member of our family.” He did not identify the cause of death.

For four years, between 2013 and 2017, Sunny was a regular and rambunctious presence at the executive mansion alongside her companion Bo, another Portuguese water dog the Obamas received as a gift from Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2009.

With their dark curly coats, the dogs made the upper floors of the White House residence their domain, along with the rambling 18-acre campus, where they wrestled on perfectly manicured grass. Sunny accompanied the first family aboard Air Force One on their annual vacations to Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard. In 2015, she even met Pope Francis in the White House Blue Room.

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Her personality, at times, took on the roguish energy of a younger sibling. In her memoir, former first lady Michelle Obama described Sunny as “a free-spirited rambler who seemed to see no point in being house-trained, given how big her new house was.”

During a holiday event the year she arrived at the White House, an exuberant Sunny jumped onto a 2-year-old as the first lady tried to restrain the animal on her leash.

The toddler, wearing a glittery red dress, fell gently to the ground. But she was unfazed, and Sunny gave her a gentle lick on the face to make amends.

“She had her eccentricities: other than Bo, she preferred people to dogs; she was a loud and sloppy drinker; and despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, she hated getting wet,” the former president remembered on Wednesday.

“But as far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect, and for thirteen years, she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days,” he went on.

Sunny, a purebred, was born in 2012 in Michigan. She was purchased from a breeder, rather than adopted from a shelter, but the Obamas made a donation to the Washington Humane Society in Sunny’s name when she arrived as a way to demonstrate support for shelter animals.

When she joined the family, which also included the Obamas two school-aged daughters, they were settling in for another four years in Washington, and looking to jolt their first pet from a spell of dejection.

“Bo was starting to look a little down in the dumps,” Obama told CNN in an interview in 2013. “Sunny, the new dog, she’s only a year old. And the truth is, she’s faster than he is. She jumps higher. She’s friskier.”

He also said house training was a work in progress.

“There have been a couple of accidents,” he said. “We live in rental housing. We didn’t put down a deposit. We’re making sure it gets cleaned up for the next occupant.”

Sunny joined a lengthy legacy of first pets, including George W. Bush’s Scottish terrier Barney, who filmed videos with a camera strapped around his neck; and Bill Clinton’s chocolate Labrador Buddy, who had to be kept separated from the family cat Socks.

The current White House occupant, President Donald Trump, does not have pets.

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Sunny’s entry into the family set Michelle Obama into “parenting mode,” the president said in the CNN interview, as her daughters were getting older.

The dogs were deployed for official events at the request of Obama’s communications team — “excellent ambassadors, imperious to criticism and unaware of their own fame,” Michelle Obama wrote in her book.

Sunny was often seen early in the morning being walked around the White House on a leash by Dale Haney, the superintendent of the grounds. She was not shy around reporters or visitors who reached out to pet.

Even after several years living in the rarified quarters, Sunny could still prove feisty. In 2016, the president was still complaining that she left “gifts” for him outside his office in the residence.

“There have been times where she just decided that the area near the Lincoln Bedroom and my office – at the other end of the hall from her crate – is included in being outside when it comes to pooping, which is not true,” Obama told People Magazine. “It’s still the inside. She didn’t always understand that.”

And as the Obamas were preparing to move out in January 2017, the dog reportedly bit an 18-year-old guest in the face, leaving a cut that required stitches.

Sunny and Bo moved with the Obamas to a new home in Washington after their time in the White House ended. The dogs helped the couple adjust to life as empty nesters when their daughters, Malia and Sasha, moved out for college.

Bo passed away in 2021, at the age of 12.

“She was fiercely protective of Bo, who she rightly sensed wasn’t always as alert and attentive as she was,” Obama wrote in his remembrance on Wednesday.

“We will miss her terribly,” he wrote, “and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”

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桑尼，这只在奥巴马总统第二任期伊始就闯入白宫，并为白宫注入了活泼——有时甚至过于活泼——活力的葡萄牙水犬，去世了。它享年13岁。

前第一犬的死讯由前总统在社交媒体上宣布，他称这只宠物是“我们家庭中珍贵的成员”。但他没有透露死因。

从 2013 年到 2017 年的四年间，桑尼经常和她的伙伴博一起出现在总统官邸，博是另一只葡萄牙水犬，是奥巴马夫妇在 2009 年从参议员泰德·肯尼迪那里收到的礼物。

这些狗狗有着深色的卷毛，它们把白宫官邸的楼上以及占地18英亩的广阔庭院都当成了自己的领地，在修剪得整整齐齐的草坪上嬉戏打闹。桑尼每年都会陪伴第一家庭乘坐空军一号前往夏威夷和玛莎葡萄园岛度假。2015年，它甚至在白宫蓝厅见到了教皇方济各。

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她有时性格中带着妹妹般的顽皮劲儿。前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马在回忆录中将桑妮描述为“一个自由奔放的漫游者，鉴于她的新家那么大，她似乎觉得没必要接受室内训练。”

在她抵达白宫的那一年的一次节日活动中，当第一夫人试图用牵引绳控制住这只名叫桑尼的活泼的动物时，它跳到了一个 2 岁的孩子身上。

穿着闪亮红色连衣裙的小女孩轻轻地摔倒在地。但她毫不在意，桑尼还轻轻地舔了舔她的脸颊以示安慰。

“她有一些怪癖：除了博以外，她更喜欢人而不是狗；她喝酒时声音很大，而且喝得酩酊大醉；尽管她是一只葡萄牙水犬，但她讨厌弄湿自己，”这位前总统周三回忆道。

“但就我们家而言，她几乎是完美的，十三年来，她一直陪伴在我们身边——永远忠诚，永远温柔，永远准备好冒险，直到生命的尽头，依然热情似火，美丽动人，”他继续说道。

Sunny是一只纯种犬，2012年出生于密歇根州。她不是从收容所领养的，而是从繁育者那里购买的。但奥巴马夫妇在Sunny来到华盛顿时，以她的名义向华盛顿人道协会捐款，以此表达对收容所动物的支持。

当她加入这个家庭时，奥巴马一家还有两个学龄女儿，他们正准备在华盛顿再生活四年，并希望帮助他们的第一只宠物摆脱沮丧的情绪。

“博看起来有点垂头丧气，”奥巴马在2013年接受CNN采访时说。“新来的狗狗桑妮才一岁。说实话，她比博跑得快，跳得高，也更活泼。”

他还表示，如厕训练仍在进行中。

“发生过几起事故，”他说。“我们住在租来的房子里，没有交押金。我们正在确保房子在下一位住户入住前打扫干净。”

Sunny 加入了美国历史上众多第一宠物的行列，其中包括乔治·W·布什的苏格兰梗犬 Barney（它脖子上绑着摄像机拍摄视频）和比尔·克林顿的巧克力色拉布拉多犬 Buddy（它不得不与家里的猫 Socks 分开饲养）。

现任白宫主人，唐纳德·特朗普总统，没有宠物。

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奥巴马总统在接受 CNN 采访时表示，随着女儿们渐渐长大，女儿桑妮的到来让米歇尔·奥巴马进入了“育儿模式”。

应奥巴马通讯团队的要求，这些狗被部署到官方活动中——“它们是优秀的形象大使，对批评不屑一顾，也不知道自己已经出名了，”米歇尔·奥巴马在她的书中写道。

人们经常在清晨看到桑妮被白宫园丁戴尔·哈尼用牵引绳牵着在白宫周围散步。她对伸手抚摸她的记者或游客毫不畏惧。

即使在官邸住了几年，桑妮依然个性十足。2016年，总统还在抱怨她把“礼物”放在官邸办公室外面。

奥巴马告诉《人物》杂志：“有时候，她会认定林肯卧室和我办公室附近——也就是走廊另一头，离她的狗笼很远的地方——也算是室外排便区域，但事实并非如此。那里仍然是室内。她并非一直都明白这一点。”

据报道，2017 年 1 月，奥巴马一家准备搬出时，这条狗咬伤了一名 18 岁的客人的脸，留下了一道需要缝针的伤口。

奥巴马夫妇卸任白宫职务后，桑尼和博也随他们搬到了华盛顿的新家。女儿玛利亚和萨莎上大学后，这两只狗狗帮助这对夫妇适应了空巢生活。

Bo于2021年去世，享年12岁。

“她非常保护博，她敏锐地察觉到博并不总是像她一样机警细心，”奥巴马在周三的悼文中写道。

“我们会非常想念她，”他写道，“想象她现在和哥哥在一起，确保他一切安好。”