Before Commander and Major, Biden’s dog Champ also attacked Secret Service agents

Commander and Major weren’t the first Biden family pets with a penchant for gnawing on U.S. Secret Service agents.

A third family German shepherd, Champ, bit at least one agent and attacked numerous others while Joseph R. Biden was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama, according to documents newly released by Judicial Watch.

The most serious incident occurred on Sept. 1, 2015. A member of the Vice Presidential Protective Division reported that Champ chomped an agent on the forearm, tearing his jacket and leaving indentation marks on his skin.

The same agent said he had been attacked by the German shepherd on each of the three previous days, as shown in a record obtained from the Department of Homeland Security under a Freedom of Information Act request.

“No wonder the Secret Service is a mess,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “Biden’s dogs terrorized agents and White House personnel for a decade, and nothing was done about it until Judicial Watch exposed the dangerous scandal.”

In 2012, another employee sent an email to the assistant special agent in charge with the subject line “Dog attack!!”

“I need a couple of days off! Champ just tried to attack me!” the email dated March 24, 2012 said. He added in a follow-up message: “I need hazard pay!!”

The latest disclosures buttress one of the least flattering legacies of the Biden presidency: that Mr. Biden insisted on bringing his pet German shepherds to live with him while under Secret Service protection despite their record of repeatedly attacking and terrorizing staff, which is now known to predate his presidency.

Mr. Biden was apparently unable to control his pets despite claiming to be an old hand at dog training.

“We’ve always had two dogs,” he told ABC’s “This Week” in a December 2008 interview. “We’ve always had two big dogs so they can have companionship. I’ve had German shepherds from the time I was a kid. I’ve trained them and shown them.”

The dogs’ intense loyalty to their owner, and ignorance of human political institutions and customs, could have caused them to perceive the Secret Service agents hovering by and around Mr. Biden to be threatening him.

Champ was the first German shepherd to accompany Mr. Biden to the White House, but reports of dog bites first surfaced with Major in 2021, followed by Commander in 2022-23.

Last year, Judicial Watch released records showing that Commander was involved in 23 biting incidents from October 2022 to July 2023, including 10 that required medical treatment.

Commander was relocated in October 2023 after two more incidents, which brought the total to 25.

Before Commander, Mr. Biden’s dog Major bit a Secret Service agent every day from March 1-8, 2021, according to documents released in August 2021. The dog also bit a National Park Service employee.

Major was sent to the Bidens’ home in Wilmington, Delaware, in December 2021.

Judicial Watch received 22 pages of records in response to a FOIA request, revealing that while Joe Biden was vice president for Barack Obama his German Shepherd, Champ, attacked his U.S. Secret Service protective detail. READ: https://t.co/IKp9dUilHB

— Judicial Watch  (@JudicialWatch) March 31, 2025

The 22 pages of records released Monday show that Champ’s aggressive behavior, including snapping and running at agents, had become a problem for the Secret Service. The dog also showed “aggressive behavior” toward a groundskeeper on at least one occasion.

An email from a lieutenant in the vice presidential detail dated March 25, 2011, warned that Champ had been “aggressively approaching and chasing our Uniformed Division officers.”

“Apparently, this has been a repetitive behavior over the past few nights,” an email dated March 25, 2011, said. “Do you have any suggestions on how we can resolve this situation? We don’t want to have an officer bit or any harm to Champ.”

Two months later, a lieutenant in the Emergency Response Team said that the dog’s owner – likely Mr. Biden – “indicated that his dog Champ has had several incidents where he has shown aggression towards members of the ERT when we are posted at the VPR [vice president’s residence].”

“[Name redacted] realizes that we are trying to give him and Champ space while walking the grounds and appreciates the job we are doing for him,” the email dated May 11, 2011, said. “Effective immediately, if Champ comes your way, call his name and let him see you. [Redacted] believes this will help alleviate any future aggression issues.”

Champ died in Wilmington, Delaware, in June 2021, the Biden White House said at the time.