By late 2021, President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd Major had become one of the White House’s most talked-about residents — and not for the reasons his owners might have hoped.
The energetic rescue dog had bitten a Secret Service agent and, in a separate incident during a walk on the South Lawn, “nipped” a National Park Service employee.
Major made history as the first shelter dog to call the White House home, after Biden adopted him from the Delaware Humane Society in late 2018.
Before Biden even took office, Major’s high spirits had already made headlines: the then-president-elect fractured his foot while playing with him, an injury some observers later suggested may have contributed to Biden’s stiffer gait during his presidency.
After the biting episodes, Biden publicly stood by Major and arranged for him to receive training at an outside facility in Washington. But despite those efforts, the troublesome canine ultimately left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue permanently.
So where did Major Biden end up after his brief and turbulent time in the White House?
President Joe Biden with the Biden family dogs Champ and Major in the Oval Office in 2021
Major is pictured enjoying life in Mississippi years after leaving the White House following two biting incidents
Happily, Major very much turned over a new leaf, and went on to ‘live the life of Riley’ chasing horses in rural Mississippi.
‘He’s just sweetest thing in the world, very protective, very, very loving, he loves to play,’ said Steve Patterson, the Biden family friend who took on the challenge of looking after Major.
‘He just needed to be a dog. He needed to be given his freedom to be a dog.’
Patterson, 74, who first met a young Senator Joe Biden 50 years ago, when he was a junior staffer for another senator, said the President knew how much he loved dogs, and that he had the peace and space for Major to roam.
Patterson and his son John Calvin picked Major up from a member of the Biden family, who brought him as far as Huntsville, Alabama.
‘We were coming back, and we actually had car trouble in rural Alabama,’ said Patterson.
‘John Calvin was in the car with me, and he says, ‘You know, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into. Here we are, who knows where, no cell service, and Cujo growling at us from the back seat…”
Major initially had ‘some issues’ and was ‘pretty aggressive,’ and ‘you had to be careful about where and how you petted him,’ he said.
Despite that, many behind the scenes in the White House had been sorry to see him go.
Joe Biden on the day he adopted Major in 2018 in Delaware
In 2020 Biden fractured his foot while playing with the high-energy Major
Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was among officials who had struck up a good rapport with Major.
‘I think he had a special bond with him and was very fond of him,’ said Patterson.
‘Some of the staff that I talked to were glad to see him go, some weren’t.
‘Now, he’s got the life of Riley. He does exactly what he wants to, rules the roost. He lives way out in the middle of nowhere in the country, chases horses and plays with other dogs, and he’s great, he’s good around children.’
Major had reportedly been exposed to something ‘toxic’ as a puppy before the Bidens adopted him, and remains scared of fire.
‘He does not like fire of any kind. We build a fire in the fireplace, and he runs. He may have had some issue with some fire somewhere before the Bidens got him,’ said Patterson.
‘And he’s very much a baby when it storms, like thunder and all. He has got a wonderful hiding place, he goes to the shower, and we’ll actually pull the door to the shower too.’
Major exploring the South Lawn of the White House, where he ‘nipped’ a member of the National Park Service
Major found a new home away from the White House with Biden friend Steve Patterson
Major living a happy dog’s life in Mississippi, where he likes chasing horses
According to Patterson, Major was named after the late Beau Biden’s military rank.
Beau, who died from brain cancer aged 46 in 2015, was a Major in the Delaware National Guard, and Patterson described him as a ‘truly outstanding human being.’
After Major’s big move, the Bidens checked in to see he was OK.
Patterson first met Joe Biden in Washington when he was a staffer for Senator John Stennis of Mississippi. He later became chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, and State Auditor. When Biden first ran for president in 1988, he was southern campaign coordinator.
‘He knew my fondness for dogs, and I have always had bird dogs, and knew I had the location and the place and the temperament,’ said Patterson.
‘The White House is constant chaos, it’s not routine, there’s different things that go on, and all the time it’s a highly stressful thing for people, much less dogs.
‘After having such difficult times with him, and trying repeatedly, you know, to get him calm, I think they just made the determination that that wasn’t going to work.’
Major needed room to ‘be a dog’ and was moved to rural Mississippi (pictured on the South Lawn of the White House)
A staffer hangs on to Major’s leash during a walk on the White House South Lawn in 2021
Major and Biden’s other dog Champ playing tug-of-war with a Donald Trump dog toy in 2020
Jill Biden with Major (L) and Champ (R). Major left the White House and Champ passed away aged 13
Since arriving in rural Mississippi over four years ago, Major hasn’t bitten anyone.
‘Initially, he was standoffish, a bit aggressive, but the truth is he didn’t like strangers, he’s fine now,’ said Patterson. ‘He’s definitely happier here than he was. He’s a very happy dog.’
Following the first biting incident on March 8, 2021, in which the victim was a Secret Service agent, Biden defended Major as ‘a sweet dog.’
Explaining what happened, he said Major had ‘turned a corner, there’s two people he doesn’t know at all, you know, and they move and he moves to protect.’
Biden added that ’85 percent of the people there (at the White House) love him.’
Jen Psaki, the press secretary at the time, said Major was ‘still getting acclimated and accustomed to the surroundings and new people.’
She said: ‘Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual.’
Following that first incident, Major went to Delaware.
But when he returned, he bit another person on March 29, 2021.
Michael LaRosa, press secretary to Jill Biden, said on that occasion Major ‘nipped someone while on a walk.’
The person, a member of the National Park Service, was seen by the White House Medical Unit ‘out of an abundance of caution’ and returned to work.
Biden originally adopted Major as a ‘buddy’ for his older German shepherd, Champ, who died in June 2021.
President Joe Biden greets his dogs Major (L) and Champ (R) on January 25, 2021 in the Rose Garden of the White House
The White House announced in December 2021 that Major’s time there was over following the biting incidents
In December 2021, Major’s departure was announced.
At the time, a White House spokesman said: ‘After consulting with dog trainers, animal behaviorists, and veterinarians, the first family has decided to follow the experts’ collective recommendation that it would be safest for Major to live in a quieter environment with family friends.
‘This is not in reaction to any new or specific incident, but rather a decision reached after several months of deliberation as a family and discussions with experts.’
On the day it was confirmed Major had left, Biden unveiled a new three-month-old German Shepherd puppy called Commander.
However, Commander also turned out to have biting problems.
Commander bit US Secret Service personnel on at least 24 occasions.
The Biden family reportedly felt ‘awful’ and apologized to those who were bitten, and Commander was removed from the White House to an undisclosed location in October 2023.
A request to Joe and Jill Biden’s office for comment about Major’s new life did not receive a response.
