What's Going On With Joe, His Dogs, And The Secret Service?

REPORT: President Biden has “mistreated” his dogs by punching and kicking them according to sources close with Judicial Watch.

Biden’s dogs are just like his son: Poorly trained.

Documents from the United States Department of Homeland Security, reveal injuries from attacks… pic.twitter.com/dDGRuYxc1P

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 6, 2023

The video in the post at X above bothers me in several ways. I've had five pet dogs in my life, none has been a German shepherd, but I think dog body language is pretty consistent across breeds. What I see in the video, if that's his most recent dog, Commander, is Commander being led off the helicopter by Joe and promptly becoming confused. He's on a leash, Joe heads for the limo, Commander hangs back and in fact turns the other way. As best I can read, Commander has his head low and is wagging his tail more or less level to the ground, indicating he's not sure what to do.

Joe somewhat awkwardly gathers Commander in, first with his arms, but then with his knees, shoves him toward the limo door, and then impatiently and forcefully urges him inside with the action of his legs. I would say he doesn't quite kick Commander, but Commander sure doesn't want to get into that limo. (As a lifelong pet owner, I would almost say Commander is playing dumb.) At best, all I can say is this isn't how you get a dog to cooperate. I've also got to think this relationship has been going on for a while. Dogs want to bond with their owners. Dogs want to be with the program. One basic thing dogs want to do, always and everywhere, is hop in the car. Something here isn't working.

I'm sensing other vibes here, too. The limo and the helicopter seem to be drawn up so close that it looks awkward for Joe to get into the limo, dog or no dog. I assume the Secret Service choreographs the transfer, and maybe a little like Commander himself, they seem to want to make all this a little harder then it needs to be. Even the Marine sergeant who salutes Joe on his way out seems to be briskly saluting a mote in the middle distance, not Joe the man. These people don't like Joe.

Searching the web, I'm finding this isn't new. Here's a post in The Hill from last December:

President Biden doesn’t trust some of the Secret Service agents around him and doesn’t believe certain details of the biting incident with his dog Major, according to a new book about the administration.

Chris Whipple’s “The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House” says Biden has trust issues with some agents, due in part to the fact that some agents are strong supporters of former President Trump.

. . . There are also issues around the March 2021 incident in which Major, the president’s German shepherd rescue dog, allegedly bit a Secret Service agent. The president was reportedly skeptical about the Secret Service’s report of the situation.

Biden “wasn’t buying the details,” such as the location of the incident, although he didn’t dispute that the bite took place, Whipple wrote. Biden told a friend that Secret Service agents are never at the location of the incident, which was allegedly on the second floor of the White House.

“Somebody was lying, Biden thought, about the way the incident had gone down,” Whipple wrote.

Major, who is believed to be the first shelter rescue animal to live at the White House, received private training following the biting incident. Biden at the time defended Major and said he is a “sweet” animal simply adjusting to life in the White House alongside Secret Service details.

Major was removed from the White House on December 21, 2021 after numerous biting indicents and replaced by Commander. In fact, it appears that Major's biting incidents were minimized, as have Commander's more recently, while he was in the White House:

President Biden’s German shepherd Major attacked many more people than the White House has disclosed, according to newly released emails.

The documents indicate that Major bit members of the Secret Service eight days in a row in early March — though only one such incident was publicly acknowledged.

At least one White House visitor also was bitten in early March, according to the emails, which were released Thursday by the conservative transparency group Judicial Watch, which slammed the “cover-up” of the incidents.

. . . Major and Biden’s elderly and since-deceased dog Champ were whisked back to Delaware around March 9 for what the White House claimed was a prearranged visit with family friends.

. . . But emails among Secret Service employees indicated the dogs were returned to Delaware due to a spree of attacks.

Judicial Watch, which had sued for records involving Major's biting incidents, is back on the case with Commander:

Judicial Watch announced today [October 6] that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service for records regarding incidents of aggression and bites involving President Joe Biden’s Dog, Commander (Judicial Watch Inc, v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:23-cv-02960)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Secret Service (a component of the Department of Homeland Security) failed to respond to a July 31, 2023, request for all records involving the “Biden family dog, ‘Commander,’ including but not limited to communications sent to and from [Secret Service] officials in the Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Divisions involved in White House operations and the Presidential Protection Division.”

. . . The dog reportedly has been removed from the White House after its most recent attack on a Secret Service agent and other White House staff. According to a Judicial Watch source, President Biden has mistreated his dogs. Judicial Watch has learned he has punched and kicked his dogs.

“It is beyond belief that, even after Judicial Watch exposed their attacking 10 Secret Service personnel, Joe and Jill Biden have continued to let their dog menace and attack Secret Service and White House staff. Let’s be blunt: the dangerous dog could kill someone,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The ongoing Biden administration cover-up of the Biden dog attacks on Secret Service agents is dangerous corruption.”

The White House apparently has a different spin. According to the UK Daily Mail, although Commander, like Major before, is now out of the White House,

White House staffers have blamed President Joe Biden's dog Commander's biting problems on the unfriendly expressions of Secret Service agents.

The 2-year-old German Shepherd reportedly had his 11th bite of one of the president's key protectors just last week - but is said to be pleasant around West Wing staff.

Secret Service emails obtained by Judicial Watch in July revealed the dog had bitten or threatened at least 10 people, making this the 11th incident involving it.

. . . In the batch of emails released in July, Secret Service officers called the dog 'freaking crazy,' argued he would have been 'put down' if he didn't belong to the Biden family and said he needed a muzzle.

On November 10, 2022, Jill Biden 'couldn't regain control' of Commander as the dog charged another member of the Secret Service.

My own take is this is not a normal relationship between a family and its dogs.