Former President Barack Obama announced the death of Sunny, the family's second Portuguese Water Dog, at age 13, closing a chapter that began with a campaign promise to his young daughters back in 2008.
Obama posted a tribute on Instagram on Tuesday, sharing photos of Sunny running outside the White House, sitting in bed alongside a stuffed animal, covered in sand at the beach, and meeting Pope Francis in 2015. The former president called the dog a "force of nature" and said the family would "miss her terribly."
Sunny's death follows that of Bo, the Obamas' first dog, who died at age 12 in 2021. Obama referenced Bo in his farewell post, writing that the family imagines Sunny "is with her big brother now, making sure he's okay."
The story of the Obama dogs traces back to the 2008 presidential race. On the campaign trail, Obama promised daughters Sasha and Malia a puppy regardless of the election's outcome. In his victory speech that November, he addressed the girls directly:
"I love you both more than you can imagine. You have earned the puppy that is coming with us!"
Bo arrived in April 2009. Sunny followed in August 2013, born in Michigan in June 2012. The Obamas formally introduced her to the public that November, noting the Portuguese Water Dog breed suited the family because of allergies.
Obama wrote on Instagram that the whole family, Bo included, "immediately fell in love" when Sunny joined the household during his second term.
Obama's tribute painted a picture of a dog with personality to spare. He described Sunny as "athletic and full of boundless energy," writing that she "leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren't even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved."
He cataloged her quirks with evident affection:
"She had her eccentricities: other than Bo, she preferred people to dogs; she was a loud and sloppy drinker; and despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, she hated getting wet."
The less glamorous side of White House pet ownership surfaced in a 2016 interview with PEOPLE magazine. Obama admitted that Sunny sometimes treated the hallway near the Lincoln Bedroom and his office as an extension of the outdoors.
"Sometimes I'll be in my office, and I'm doing my work and I'll see this like scurrying, and I got to get up and run before she does her thing, because if I'm too late then there's a little gift that she leaves."
Former First Lady Michelle Obama offered a diplomatic defense in the same interview, noting that Sunny "hasn't done that in a while. She's gotten much better."
Obama closed his tribute by calling Sunny "pretty much perfect." He wrote that for thirteen years she stayed "by our side, always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days."
No cause of death was disclosed. Obama did not specify where Sunny died.
Presidential pets have a way of humanizing the people who hold the office, and outlasting the political fights that define their tenures. Whatever else history records about the Obama years, Sunny got thirteen good ones.
