Vice President Joe Biden was in Syracuse, New York on Monday to talk to students at Bellevue Elementary School. During question and answer session, one of the children asked “Have you ever petted a dog?”

Biden answered, “Oh yea! Guess what? I got one that lives with me. The smartest, coolest dog in the world, his name is Champ. And he’s a German Shepherd and he is the neatest dog.”

Then after reminiscing about one of his previous dogs named Senator (another German Shepherd Dog), he went on to say, "I wish you could see my doggie. And by the way, I kid the president, my dog's smarter than Bo, his dog. Yeah I do. I think he is. But Bo's a beautiful dog too." Then he quickly moved onto the next question.

It’s really pretty funny. I bet Biden could have gone on longer, comparing his “smart” and “awesome” German Shepherd to Obama’s new Portuguese Water Dog. Of course he would never dare sling insults directly at Obama now would he? That would just be silly, they are on the same team!

Image courtesy Associated Press

Obama Disappoints

We here at BaxterBoo are disappointed. After the newly minted President-elect's first press conference in November, we caught a serious case of Hopenchange fever when he spent a considerable amount of time emphasizing how important the presidential puppy would be once the First Fam moved into the White House. Earlier, during the election night speech, he even told his daughters that they "have earned the new puppy that will be going with us to the White House."

Here it is, two months after Obama was elected, 10 days after he's moved in, and still no first dog. There's been hemming and hawing over the fact that one of the first daughters has allergies. There was talk of Portuguese Water Dogs and Labradoodles.

Is he waffling on a campaign pledge?

Next thing you know, he'll be backing out on other pre-inauguration promises. Oh, wait...

Speaking of presidential pooches, the current First Dog took some time out from patrolling the grounds of the White House to have a chat with Reuters White House correspondent Jonathan Decker recently. It did not go well.

Blood was drawn. Lessons were learned. At least the guy escaped with all his digits still attached.

The election has come and gone, and now we can move on to more important matters. First up, reporters everywhere are trying to get the scoop on just what type of dog will become the new First Dog under the Barack Obama administration. In fact, Obama himself spent more time on the prospect of the new pooch than just about anything else during his first press conference last Friday. Kerry Washington has chimed in in the latest People Magazine with suggestions for the Obamas.

So, the search is on and the coverage is coming hot and heavy. We'll keep you posted.