After two interviews, three applications and months of anxiety, Nicole Grayson, a stay-at-home mother of three in Portland, Ore., finally got the nod. In April,Grayson learned she had been chosen to purchase a $2,000 Portuguese water dog, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Ever since the Obama family anointed Bo the country’s First Dog, requests for Portuguese water dogs have been soaring, jumping by about 100% in the US and 122% in the UK from a year earlier, according to officials at the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America.
Even before Bo, many prospective owners had to submit to an interview with the breeder and fill out an application that can run 11 pages.
Sample essay questions: “How would you describe the ideal dog for you and your family?” and “What other breeds have you considered?” and “Of the dogs you have owned, what do you enjoy most about dog ownership?”
Just 1,400 puppies are born a year, which means the Bo boom has created acceptance rates worthy of an Ivy League college. “We try to discourage people,” says Mary Eadie, a breeder in Annandale, who says she has had 300 calls since Bo Obama came on the scene.
Eadie has a website and has set parameters. She said she will sell only to those who can stay home with the dog or take it to work, who have a fenced-in yard and don’t have kids under the age of 6.
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