AP-Petside Poll: America Prefers Mutt over Pure-Bred for First Family Pup

According to a new AP-Petside.com poll, American pet owners prefer the new Obama family First Pet be a mutt rather than a pure-bred by more than a two to one margin. However, the Obama family may have already decided to adopt a pure-bred dog. Read on for more on this story.According to a new AP-Petside.com poll, American pet owners prefer the new Obama family "First Pet" be a mutt rather than a pure-bred by more than a two to one margin (44% to 19%). The general public would also prefer a White House mutt over a pure-bred 33 percent to 23 percent.

However, the Obama family may have already decided to adopt a pure-bred dog.

President-Elect Obama announced Sunday that the family has narrowed its breed choices down to two: the Portuguese Water Dog and the Labradoodle.

Despite this decision, the new first pup could still hail from a shelter or rescue organization. And according to the poll, more than half (51%) of pet owners also say it is critical that the Obama pup hails from an animal shelter.

"Rescued all-American dogs from shelters can be amazing pets," says Victoria Schade, Petside.com contributor and expert dog trainer. "Nevertheless, if the Obamas choose to select a familiar breed because of Malia's allergies, they still have the option of finding one through a rescue organization."

The political party affiliation of pet owners played a role in the puppy preference of those polled. Democratic U.S. pet owners favored a mutt more strongly than a pure-bred (50% to 19%), while Republican owners favored a mutt less strongly (39% to 17%).

Democratic pet owners also more strongly preferred that the Obama dog be adopted from a shelter than Republican pet owners with 58 percent of Democrats responding that it is important, compared to 43 percent of Republicans.

"After a rich history of Presidential pure bred dogs, perhaps the White House should get ready for 'change' in the shape of a shelter dog," says Schade.

Among all U.S. Democrats polled (pet owners or not), 38 percent say the Obama puppy should be a mutt, compared with 32 percent of all Republicans. A quarter of Democrats (26%) say the pooch should be a pure breed, compared with 20 percent of Republicans.

The differences across the aisle are only slight when it comes to shelter adoption, with 45 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Republicans stating the White House puppy should come from a shelter.

This AP-Petside.com poll is a follow up to a poll released in December that revealed how often pet owners claim to understand their pets' language. For more on this poll, scroll down.

For more info on the Obama family's pure-bred decision and the two breeds, see Petside's Obama Puppy Update.

For more from Petside.com contributor Victoria Schade, see the Petside 411 training video series.