Everyone's howling that the President broke his promise of adopting a shelter dog.  I, too, would have loved to see the Obamas choose a shelter dog and send a strong message to America to stop littering and adopt, not purchase, a pet; however, choosing a pet for one's family is a very personal decision, and we really have no say in this one, folks. Allow the First Family to bond with their adorable puppy. We can only hope they made the right choice with this breed and this particular pup. We certainly can't say that they rushed into pet ownership blindly, like many people do. Knowing the President, I'm certain he thoroughly researched the breed before bringing Bo home to his kids. At least they can easily afford the upkeep, unlike many who are surrendering their dogs at shelters in this depressed economy.  

Unfortunately, the popular pet syndrome (Disney's Dalmatians, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and Marley, among others) has already begun again and Americans are now succumbing to First Fido Frenzy. If the President had only stated his intention of getting a Portuguese Water Dog for his kids and waited a year, there would have been plenty of them in shelters to adopt, which is what will happen now when clueless couch potatoes or people who are away from home too many hours a day rush out and buy these large, energetic working dogs from breeders and then can't give them the activity and attention they require.  Puppy mills are probably already cranking out PWD pups on their assembly line of greed and misery.