apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Why is everyone so excited about a puppy in the white house? If memory serves righ, both Clinton and Bush got puppies while president.

Because it's a puppy. Everyone loves to love puppies.

i read that cnn article earlier today! loved it. and its crazy! bears in cages, alligators kept in tubs, tiger cubs....those old presidents were nuts. amazing how times change.

I'd like to see a cute tiger cub in the white house!

Don't be such a cynic, caw261.

If Natalie Portman can believe in the power of puppies, you can too. http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2008/10/natalie-portman.html

I think its more the idea of having young children in the whitehouse. Also, a puppy is something that makes the leader of a country more 'everyman' Who doesn't love puppies?

You are right ... and maybe if it was only a promise of a father to her daughter? Maybe mister O. is just a man... And maybe if he lost the election he give a puppy to his daughter and no one talk about that. Maybe...

I have a question: The family must to keep the old classic furnitures in the white house or not?
I ask that because I remember in France we had a president (Pompidou for exemple) who did lot of for the contemporary design in the Elysée.

Can anyone give a review of the dirt stopper rug?

I could handle grabbing my GSD mix as she came through the door and rubbing the mud off with a rage, but we recently adopted a rescue Malamute and getting both of them to halt by the back door while I brush eight feet isn't working.

Oh man, why is everyone so nasty in the apartment therapy comments? Saying something isn't your style is one thing (if you say it respectfully), but it's a puppy for god's sake, no need to get snippy.

My one piece of advice - have lint rollers - lots of lint rollers! Stick one in Dad's desk, one in his car, one in his plane, everywhere.

Should Michelle wonder to AT... congratulations and welcome to your new home.

@MadameBidule,

The White House has been redecorated many times before. I don't know of any requirement to keep antique furniture, but I imagine most First families would want to keep historic items.

One of the reasons that this is such a hot topic is that the Obama girls *urged* their dad to run for President after they visited the White House and discovered that it contained dogs.

Another reason is because the dog blogosphere has been urging the Obamas to rescue a dog or adopt from a shelter.

"The family must to keep the old classic furnitures in the white house or not? "

Yes - the First Family must keep the antique furnishings in the State Rooms. They can rearrange the furniture and do some reupholstering, etc - but only with the guidance and approval of the White House Historical Society.

The First Family has more leeway in the rooms of the private residence - but they have a very limited budget allowance of $100,000 for the entire mansion so it makes sense for them to use as much of the old furniture as possible.