Sunny lived at the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency with fellow Portuguese Water Hound, Bo, who died in 2021
Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Alamy
NEED TO KNOW
- The Obamas’ beloved dog, Sunny, has died
- Barack and Michelle Obama announced the news in a joint post shared on Instagram on Wednesday, Sept. 16, confirming that the Portuguese water dog had died the day prior
- “We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay,” Barack wrote, referring to the family’s other late dog, Bo, who died in 2021
Barack and Michelle Obama are mourning the loss of their family dog, Sunny.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the former president, 65, announced in a joint Instagram post with former first lady Michelle that the beloved Portuguese water dog had died the day prior.
Barack wrote alongside multiple photos of Sunny through the years, “Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family. We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us – including our first dog, Bo – immediately fell in love.”
“We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature. Athletic and full of boundless energy, she leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren’t even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved,” he continued.
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He added, “And whereas the way to Bo’s heart usually involved a treat, Sunny was more interested in having us run around with her, roll on the floor with her, or have her belly rubbed for as long as we were willing.”
Barack said Sunny “loved” his and Michelle’s daughters, Malia, 28, and Sasha, 25, “even if they were pestering her when she was napping.”
“She loved our team, and would often follow them around, helping them on the job. She was fiercely protective of Bo, who she rightly sensed wasn’t always as alert and attentive as she was,” Barack went on. “She had her eccentricities: other than Bo, she preferred people to dogs; she was a loud and sloppy drinker; and despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, she hated getting wet.”
Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Alamy
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The former president said that “as far as our family was concerned,” Sunny “was pretty much perfect, and for thirteen years, she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days.”
“We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay,” he concluded.
Credit: Official White House photo by Chuck Kennedy via Alamy
Alongside his message, Barack shared multiple photos, including one showing Sunny meeting the late Pope Francis in September 2015.
In August 2013, during Barack’s second term, Sunny joined the family at the White House. Bo, the family’s other Portuguese water dog, joined the family in 2009 and was a much-adored pet until his death from cancer in 2021.
Credit: Pete Souza/White House via Getty
The Obamas welcomed Bo as the result of a promise Barack made to his daughters, Sasha and Malia, that they would get a puppy after the 2008 election. Sunny came four years later as a treat for Bo.
“Sunny is the perfect little sister for Bo — full of energy and very affectionate — and the First Family picked her name because it fit her cheerful personality,” the White House shared shortly after Sunny’s arrival on the Presidential Pet Museum website.
Sunny also helped Barack and Michelle adjust to their daughters growing up and spending less time at home.
“I think there is an element for Michelle and me of, you know, we see what’s coming, and we need to make sure that we got somebody who greets us at the door when we get home,” the former president told CNN in 2013.
Credit: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty
Sunny’s almost four years in the White House were marked by moments on the Great Lawn and inside the Oval Office, making appearances at White House state dinners, greeting the press, and even hopping on a helicopter flight to Martha’s Vineyard.
Sunny and Bo also inspired decorations for the Obamas’ final Christmas at the White House. Oversized replicas of the Portuguese water dogs, which consisted of 25,000 yarn pom-poms, stood prominently in the East Wing Hallway for the holidays.
The replicas even captured the dogs’ different color patterns: Bo had white paws and a white chest, while Sunny was all black.
During Sunny’s life, she met famous figures like Pope Francis and Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten.
Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty
Speaking to PEOPLE for the Obamas’ 2016 cover story, Michelle called Sunny a “wonderful dog” but said she would sometimes catch her pooping in the area near the Lincoln Bedroom and her office. Barack lovingly backed up Michelle’s claim.
“She knows that she’s doing something wrong because she’ll run and sneak [past me],” he said. “Sometimes I’ll be in my office, and I’m doing my work, and I’ll see this like scurrying – and I got to get up and run before she does her thing because if I’m too late, then there’s a little gift that she leaves.”
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