Obamas announce death of family dog Sunny

Former President Obama and his family say they’re mourning the loss of their “pretty much perfect” dog, Sunny.

“Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family,” Obama wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X.

The Obamas welcomed Sunny , a 1-year-old Portuguese water dog, in 2013.

“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 said.

“We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature,” the 44th president said in his tribute to the four-legged family member.

Bo and Sunny often made cameo appearances at the White House during public events and were prominently featured on the family’s annual holiday card. Former first lady Michelle Obama said in 2015 that the pair of pooches was so popular that they had their own official White House schedules.

“Everybody wants to see them and take pictures,” Michelle Obama said at the time.

“I get a memo at the beginning of the month with a request for their schedules, and I have to approve their appearances,” she said.

In his homage to Sunny, the former president remembered the pup as “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,” Obama said.

Saying that Sunny loved both his daughters, Sasha and Malia, “even if they were pestering her when she was napping,” Obama remembered the canine would follow members of the family’s staff around “helping them on the job.”

“She was fiercely protective of Bo, who she rightly sensed wasn’t always as alert and attentive as she was,” Obama said.

“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 said of Sunny.

“But as far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect, and for 13 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,” Obama said.

“We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”