(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s family dog Bo, a male Portuguese Water Dog with a mop of black and white fur who became a familiar playful sight around the White House, has died.
Obama announced the death late on Saturday, saying the dog had been “a constant, gentle presence in our lives – happy to see us on our good days, our bad days and everyday in between”.
“We will miss him dearly,” he said on Twitter.
His wife Michelle Obama said in a separate tweet that Bo, 12, had been suffering from cancer.
Bo came to the White House in 2009 soon after the start of Obama’s first term and was joined a few years later by a female of the same breed called Sunny.
Obama, who left office in 2017, praised Bo’s calm demeanor in the White House, saying the dog “had a big bark but no bite, loved to jump in the pool in summer, was unflappable with children, lived for scraps around the dinner table, and had great hair.”
(Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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