Trans-fur-mation: How the First Dogs are already making their mark on the White House

Champ joined the Biden family in 2008, while Major came along later in 2018. Photo / Twitter

The first dogs have officially entered the White House.

Joe and Jill Biden's two German shepherds, Champ and Major, moved into their new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue over the weekend, reports CNN.

Joe Biden's dog Champ. Photo / Getty

Jill's press secretary Michael LaRosa said the family wanted to settle in before moving their dogs from Delaware to Washington.

"Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace, and Major loved running around on the South Lawn," LaRosa told CNN in a statement on Monday.

The dogs' arrival marks the comeback of a long tradition of presidential families bringing their pets to live with them in the White House.

Champ has been part of the Biden family for more than 10 years, since December 2008, just weeks after Joe became Barack Obama's vice president-elect.

Shelter dog Major joined the family more recently after being adopted in November 2018, months before Biden announced his run for presidency in the 2020 election.

Major is the first shelter dog to move into the White House. The Delaware Humane Association, where he was adopted from, hosted a virtual "indoguration party" for Major.

But he's not the first rescue dog to live at the White House. Former president Lyndon B Johnson's daughter Luci adopted a rescue pup named Yuki who'd been abandoned by his owner at a Texas petrol station.

And former president Bill Clinton's family cat Socks was also a rescue pet.

FIRST DOGS Major and Champ Biden @firstdogsusa have moved into the White House. There has not been a pet in the WH since the Obamas departed four years ago; fmr. President Trump was the first in 100+ years not to have a pet in office. Pics by WH/Adam Schultz pic.twitter.com/uzY7ksNvyg

— FIRST DOGS CHAMP & MAJOR BIDEN (@firstdogsusa) January 25, 2021

Jill Biden told Fox 5 in Washington she would "love to get a cat", as she loves having animals around the house.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday evening she had no updates about whether the Bidens would get a cat.

"I'm also wondering about the cat, because the cat is going to dominate the internet whenever the cat is announced and wherever that cat is found," she said in a video on Sunday night answering questions on Twitter.

Until then, the Bidens' daughter Naomi's cat Winston holds the official title of First Cat, according to the White House pets' social media pages.

The long-held tradition of White House pets dates back to Thomas Jefferson, who had a mockingbird and several bear cubs during his presidency.

Over the years, presidential pets have become celebrities in their own right.