Obama Mourns Sunny, a 'Force of Nature'

Sunny Obama has taken her final walk. Barack Obama announced Wednesday that Sunny, the family's Portuguese water dog who moved into the White House in 2013, died a day earlier at age 14. In a social media post, the former president called her "a force of nature" who doted on daughters Malia and Sasha and shadowed staffers "helping them on the job," the Guardian reports.

• "Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family. We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us – including our first dog, Bo – immediately fell in love," Obama wrote. "We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature. Athletic and full of boundless energy, she leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren't even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved. And whereas the way to Bo's heart usually involved a treat, Sunny was more interested in having us run around with her, roll on the floor with her, or have her belly rubbed for as long as we were willing."

• "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," Obama wrote. But as far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect, and for thirteen years, she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days."
• Sunny, known as the more high-energy counterpart to Bo, occasionally drew headlines for her rambunctious behavior, including knocking over a toddler at a holiday event and nipping a visitor in 2017. Born in Michigan in 2012 and acquired from a breeder, she was named to match her "cheerful personality," reports USA Today.
• "We will miss her terribly, and imagine she's with her big brother now, making sure he's okay," Obama wrote, referring to Bo, who died in 2021.