White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Tuesday afternoon that President Joe Biden’s two german shepherds traveled to Delaware after Major, the younger of the two dogs, injured an unspecified person that Psaki said he failed to recognize.
Psaki said Major and Champ, the other dog, are still getting accustomed and acclimated to their new life at the White House, and that Major, the younger of the two, had been “surprised” by a new face on Monday. “Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed,” said Psaki.
“It had been previously planned already for the dogs to be cared for by family friends in Delaware during Dr. Biden’s travels to military bases this week. She has a three-day trip this week, and the dogs will return to the White House soon,” added Psaki.
CNN reported Monday that the dogs were sent to Delaware following an incident between Major and a member of the White House security team. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the injury was the result of a “biting incident.” Major is three years old, and was adopted from a shelter in late 2018, and Champ is about 13 years old.
The White House press secretary declined to say whether Major had bitten a member of the Secret Service staff. After a reporter requested assurance for the public that Major “would not be euthanized,” Psaki replied: “Well certainly Major Biden is a member of the family, so I can assure you that.”
Back in November of last year, Biden, 78, suffered a fracture to his right foot, an injury that he attributed to jokingly running after his dog shortly after he got out of the shower.
“The little pup dropped a ball in front of me, for me to grab the ball, and I’m walking in this little alley-way to get to the bedroom, and I grabbed the ball like this,” Biden, who gestured that he was leaning over to pick up the toy, told CNN host Jake Tapper.
“He ran, and I was joking running after him to grab his tail, and what happened was he slid on a throw rug, and I tripped on the rug he slid on,” added Biden.
Biden explains his foot injury:
“I’m walking through this little alleyway to get to the bedroom and I grabbed the ball like this and he ran and I was joking running after him to grab his tail. And what happened was he slipped on a throw rug and I tripped on the rug he slid on” pic.twitter.com/o9ARgpJpfD
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 4, 2020
His office originally said Biden had “twisted his ankle,” and that initial x-rays didn’t show an “obvious fracture.” Soon after, Biden was diagnosed with hairline fractures, and his office said that he would likely be walking in a protective boot for several weeks.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, announced in early February that Biden was now fully healed from the incident. “The president received routine follow up X-rays today. Both small fractures of his foot are completely healed,” said the physician, reports Reuters.