The President's family recently created a stir when they were looking for a White House dog. They choose the breed Portuguese Water Dog for their family for its temperament and hypo-allergenic qualities. Animal "Rights" groups pressured the Obama's to get a dog from a rescue organization or shelter, but they acquired a re-home puppy from a breeder instead.

Choosing to go a with a breeder is best because the purchaser will have a better understanding of the dog's potential temperament, possible issues, and long-term qualities. All puppies are "cute" and all shelter dogs look "deserving" of a good home, but cuteness and good intentions for rescue do not always lead to good dogs. Most dogs in a rescue situation or at a shelter are there for a reason... they were rejected.

While we may want to support the notion that all dogs can be good dogs, the truth is that a small percentage of dogs fail to behave appropriately in home environments. According to the HSUS, approximately 6-8% of the pet population will be surrendered at an animal shelter. Only 2-4% of the pet population is euthanized each year because those animals are not suitable for homes.

A number of factors contribute to why a dog may be unstable as a pet. The first factor is that dogs were originally domesticated from wild animals and they retain many of their inherited instincts. The notion of dogs as "pets," rather than as working companions is relatively new. Although, some dogs were developed as pets thousands of years ago, most of the dogs we see today provided some utility to man. The utility of a dog is based on a honing of the dog's natural instincts into a function that serves man through selective breeding.

Selective breeding is not a surefire means to hone animal instincts into socially-acceptable domestic dog behavior, but failing to properly breed for good qualities will lead to instability in a dog's temperament. Unstable dogs are the primary dog population in shelters, as stable dogs are able to be re-homed.

So, while Vice President Joe Biden and the breeder of his new German Shepherd get assaulted and threatened for choosing good quality breeding, the President should be applauded for not going to a shelter or "rescue." The First Family is just too high profile to accept the risk of a dog with the potential of having an unstable temperament.