Let's Keep It Real: Is There a Real Menace at the White House?

New pictures have emerged which show Joe Biden's German Shepherd, Commander biting yet another White House staffer just as presidential sources tried to lay the blame for the animal's aggressive behavior on Secret Service agents.White  House sources claimed that Commander targets members of the president's security detail because of their 'unfriendly expressions.'

Within the last week, reports surfaced that the presidential pet bit a Secret Service Agent in an incident that saw the agent seek medical attention.  At the time, it was reported as the two-year-old dog's 11th known biting incident-- but thanks to the release of a tourist's photo, it has been revealed that the Secret Service incident was in fact the 12th biting incident.

The new image shows the dog sinking his teeth into the arm of White House employee Dale Haney, the superintendent of the White House grounds, in the White House gardens on September 13.  The moment was captured by a tourist in the White House gift shop who unwittingly caught the bite on camera while taking pictures of the dog.

The visitor who asked not to be named recalled: 'I was really just wanting to take pictures of the dog, it's the next best thing to seeing the president after all.  Commander was bouncing around. He seemed very lively, high spirited and playful. He's a good-looking dog.  I only realized he had actually bitten the groundskeeper who was out there with him later when I saw the picture with his teeth quite clearly round the man's wrist and arm."

And while White House sources have placed blame on the president's protectors and claimed that 'everyone loves' Commander who is 'always so friendly', the victim on this occasion was not a gun-carrying member of the president's security detail but a groundskeeper.  The witness said: "Perhaps it was meant as a playful nip but that's a big dog to be behaving like that. To me that's a bite."

The most serious of Commander's attacks took place in November 2022 when an officer was hospitalized after the animal clamped down on their arms and thighs.  Emails obtained by conservative group Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that the incident was one of ten to take place in a four-month period.

It happened just one month after staff warned of the danger of attack after First Lady Jill Biden 'couldn't regain control' of the animal as it charged a member of Secret Service staff.  "I believe it's only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit," the staff member warned in an email sent in October 2022.  White House officials had previously said that the Bidens were working through new training and leashing protocols for the family pet following the incidents-- but that doesn't look to have been very successful.

Speaking last week Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for the first lady, said in a statement: "The First Family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often-unpredictable nature of the White House grounds.'"   The First Family's older dog, Major – a five-year-old rescue German Shepherd from a shelter in Delaware – was removed from the White House after a string of aggressive incidents including biting Secret Service and National Park Service employees.

Commander, who was a birthday gift to the president from James and Sara Biden his brother and sister-in-law, first came to the White House on December 20, 2021.  Speaking to CNN last week, former USSS agent Jonathan Wackrow called the dog's biting spree a 'significant hazard' that needs to be addressed.  He said: "There's uniqueness here where it's the residence of the president of the United States, but it's also the workplace for hundreds, thousands of people.   And you can't bring a hazard into the workplace. And that's what is essentially happening with this dog.  One time you can say it's an accident, but now multiple incidents, it's a serious issue."