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White House has a new resident: Meet the Bidens' puppy, Commander

The promised presidential cat is set to arrive next month, but Major the dog isn't coming back.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper

The Bidens have a new family member. The first family adopted a puppy, Commander, and President Joe Biden shared a photo and video of the new pooch on Monday.

In the video, the president calls to the puppy, pets it, throws a tennis ball for the pup to retrieve, walks it on a leash, and encourages the dog to sit to receive a treat.

More on presidential pets

Commander is a three-month-old German shepherd pup. A source told CNN the pup was a gift to the president from his family.

When the Bidens moved into the White House in January, they had two German shepherds, Major and Champ. Champ, the older of the two, died in June. Major reportedly received extra training after biting two people earlier in the year and is now living with another family.

"After consulting with dog trainers, animal behaviorists and veterinarians, the first family has decided to follow the experts' collective recommendation that it would be safest for Major to live in a quieter environment with family friends," Biden spokesperson Michael LaRosa said in a statement obtained by The New York Times. "This is not in reaction to any new or specific incident, but rather a decision reached after several months of deliberation as a family and discussions with experts."

But what about the promised presidential cat? Stay paw-sitive: White House officials say the official first feline will arrive in January.