Barack Obama mourns heartbreaking family loss in emotional tribute filled with White House memories

Former President Barack Obama is mourning the death of a cherished companion who spent 13 years at the center of his family’s life.

Sunny, the Obama family’s Portuguese Water Dog and a former White House pet, died Tuesday at the age of 13. Obama announced the news on Instagram alongside photographs celebrating her life.

Sunny joined the Obama family in August 2013, during the former president’s second term in office, and quickly became an adored member of the household.

“All of us — including our first dog, Bo — immediately fell in love,” Obama wrote.

Bo, another Portuguese Water Dog, died in 2021 at age 12.

A ‘force of nature’ at the White House

Obama remembered Sunny as an energetic and athletic dog whose enthusiasm made her difficult to keep up with.

“We also had trouble keeping up with her, for Sunny was a force of nature,” he wrote.

According to the former president, Sunny regularly jumped over hedges on the White House South Lawn while pursuing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved.

While Bo was particularly interested in treats, Sunny preferred attention, games and belly rubs. Obama said she loved his daughters, Malia and Sasha, even when they interrupted her naps. She also enjoyed following members of the family’s team as they worked.

Sunny had several distinctive habits. She preferred people to other dogs, with Bo being the exception. She drank water loudly and messily and, despite belonging to a breed associated with water, did not enjoy getting wet.

Obama said those unusual traits did nothing to diminish the family’s affection for a dog they considered “pretty much perfect.”

“For thirteen years, she would be by our side — always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days,” he wrote.

“We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”

Photographs preserve Sunny’s memorable life

Obama’s Instagram tribute included several photographs from Sunny’s years with the family.

The images showed her running outside the White House, relaxing in bed beside a stuffed animal and sitting on a beach with sand covering her face. Another photograph recalled the Obama family introducing its dogs to Pope Francis at the White House in 2015.

Sunny was born in Michigan in June 2012. When the Obamas introduced her publicly in 2013, they explained that Portuguese Water Dogs worked well for their family because of allergies.

Her arrival continued a promise Obama had made to Malia and Sasha during his 2008 presidential campaign. In his election-night victory speech, he told his daughters they had earned the puppy that would accompany the family to Washington.

Bo joined the family in April 2009, followed by Sunny four years later.

The mischievous side of a former first dog

Sunny’s energetic personality occasionally tested Obama’s patience inside the White House.

In a 2016 interview with People, he recalled that she sometimes treated areas near the Lincoln Bedroom and his office as though they were outdoors.

“It’s still the inside,” he joked at the time. “She didn’t always understand that.”

Obama said Sunny would sometimes hurry past his office, prompting him to get up and follow her before she could leave what he described as “a little gift.”

Michelle Obama defended Sunny during the interview, saying that the dog had improved and had not behaved that way for some time.

Behind the humorous stories was a close bond that followed the Obama family from their White House years through more than a decade of private family life.

In his farewell, Obama remembered Sunny not simply as a former presidential pet, but as a loyal and loving presence who remained adventurous until the end.