Champ The White House Dog Has Died

Champ the White House dog has died, as confirmed by Dr Jill Biden.

Sharing the sad news on Twitter, the First Lady wrote: "RIP to our sweet, good boy, Champ. We will miss you always."

Dr Biden shared a moving tribute to their beloved pet, who had been part of the family for the past 13 years.

She wrote: "Our hearts are heavy today as we let you all know that our beloved German Shepherd, Champ, passed away peacefully at home.

"He was our constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family.

"Even as Champ's strength waned in his last months, when we came in to a room he would immediately pull himself up, his tail always wagging and muzzle us for an ear scratch or a belly rub.

"Where we were, he wanted to be and everything was instantly better when he was next to us.

The touching post ended: "In our most joyful moments and in our most grief-stricken days, he was there with us, sensitive to our every unspoken feeling and emotion.

"We love our sweet, good boy and will miss him always."

Champ officially moved into the presidential building on 24 January - four days after Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States - along with their other dog, three-year-old German Shepherd Major.

Speaking about the transition at the time, Dr Biden's press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN: "The First Family wanted to get settled before bringing the dogs down to Washington from Delaware.

"Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved running around on the South Lawn."

But the dogs were later moved out of the White House after a 'biting incident'. Major - who was adopted from the Delaware Humane Association in November 2018 - was responsible for the incident involving a member of security, according to CNN.

Twitter

Dr Biden discussed the challenge of getting her dogs acclimatised to the White House on The Kelly Clarkson Show earlier this year.

Speaking with host Clarkson, she said: "I've been getting obsessed with getting our dogs settled because we have an old dog and we have a very young dog.

"They have to take the elevator, they're not used to that, and they have to go out on the South Lawn with lots of people watching them. So that's what I've been obsessed with, getting everybody settled and calm."

Topics: joe biden, US News, Animals

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward