Getting a pet dog was an easy task for the Obamas, but animal experts have said that puppy-proofing the White House for Bo will be an even bigger task.
Bo the First Dog is six months old, which is equivalent to the human "terrible twos," and in the canine world it means testing authority, and chewing.
"The hardest thing will be getting [Bo] to understand what's acceptable and what's not because he will be constantly distracted," the New York Daily News quoted Dr. Phillip Raclyn, a veterinarian at the Riverside Animal Hospital in Manhattan, as saying.
"He'll have so many people around him I'm not sure he'll really understand who his real masters are.
"If he has a hundred different people telling him what he can and can't do, he might not learn any of it," Raclyn said.
First lesson for the pup is to learn who is the authority, and from pictures taken of the Obamas walking Bo, the dog is always seen leading them.
Famed "dog whisperer" Cesar Millan says the first step is walking ahead of your dog to establish the humans as pack leaders, and in Bo's case, he said it will require a team effort.
"Everybody needs to work together to be a support team - Michelle, the girls, the cleaning ladies, the FBI," Millan said.
As for safeguarding the White House and residence it will be no small task either, though the Obamas have been puppy-proofing the areas where Bo roams.
Other likely puppy-proofing tactics include storing all chemicals like cleaners and fertilizers out of reach and covering or concealing electrical wires.
