Champ (November 11, 2008 – June 19, 2021) was a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

owned by Joe Biden's family. He joined them in living at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in 2021. Champ was the older of the two German Shepherds the Bidens owned at the start of his presidency. The younger German Shepherd was

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Biography

Biden promised his wife he would purchase a dog after the 2008 presidential election, irrespective of whether he and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

won the race. Jill Biden taped different pictures of dogs on seats of Biden's campaign plane for him to see. He purchased the dog as a puppy from a breeder in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, born November 11, 2008. It was named Champ by his granddaughters. Champ's name reminded Biden of advice given to him by his father, who said, "Any time you get knocked down, champ, get up!" Biden has an affinity for German Shepherds, having trained them in the past. Biden would give children small

plush toy A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...

s of Champ during his vice presidency. Champ lived at

Number One Observatory Circle Number One Observatory Circle is the official residence of the vice president of the United States. Located on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., the house was built in 1893 for the observatory's superintendent. The ...

during Biden's tenure as vice president. On January 24, 2021, four days after Biden's inauguration as president, Champ and

, the Bidens' younger German Shepherd, moved into the

. On June 19, 2021, the

announced that Champ had died in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. "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". the statement read. "We love our sweet, good boy and will miss him always." According to the White House statement, Champ "passed away peacefully at home".

References

External links

{{Joe Biden Biden family German shepherds United States presidential dogs 2008 animal births 2021 animal deaths

Biography

See also

References

External links