When President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia selected a Portuguese dog to join them at White House at the beginning of his first term in 2009, it was an endorsement of a long heritage practised over time.
In his victory speech on November 4, 2008, Obama had said: “Sasha and Malia, I love you more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House.”