President Bush's Dog Barney Attacked By Reporter

I've been reading in the news that our first dog, Barney, bit a reporter at the White House. There are always two sides to every story, so I thought I would write the Barney friendly version with our First Dogs perspective.

On November 6, 2008 President Bush's Dog Barney was attacked by a Reuters White House reporter Jon Decker. Barney the dog was simply hanging out in front of the White House minding his own business, when a strange man (John Decker) quickly approached trying to stick his fingers in Barney's mouth, as Barney backed up trying to get away. Fortunately, Barney was able to be rescued from the sinister clutches of this evil reporter.* Barney was obviously frightened by this reporter, and was simply trying to defend himself. If Jon Decker wanted to pal around with Barney, he should have approached Barney differently. With a dog that doesn't know you, it's best to approach slowly, speak in a reassuring voice, and watch for body language. John Decker didn't even give Barney the chance to sniff him first, which is completely rude in the dog world!

In addition, Barney has been under a great deal of stress, as dogs are empathic to their owners. You may not love President Bush, but I'm certain Barney does. I'm going to miss our First Dog! If you have not checked out Barney's home page on WhiteHouse.gov, go there now to see his videos and pics.

*Disclaimer: OK, I'm sure John Decker didn't intentionally attack Barney, it just might have felt that way to our First Dog. In John Decker's credit, he has been rather good-natured about this entire incident.