Published: November 21, 2008 11:10 am      

Pick the presidential pooch

Area youngsters can still enter The Tribune-Democrat’s “Presidential Pooch Essay Contest” to have fun and be eligible for prizes.

We’re asking children 10 years of age and younger to tell us, in 250 words or fewer, what breed of dog President-Elect Barack Obama’s family should get when they move into the White House. During the campaign, Obama had promised his daughters – Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 – that they could get a dog if he won the election.

We’ve already received some great essays, and we hope families, school classess and clubs will make this contest a fun activity for local kids.

The deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 26. Kids can even include photographs or drawings with their essays.

We’ll select three essays to win prizes, and we’ll publish the winners and excerpts from other essays in The Tribune-Democrat on Nov. 30.

Essays can be submitted two ways:

- By e-mail to: tribdem@tribdem.com, subject – “Presidential Pooch Essay Contest”

- By mail to: “Presidential Pooch Essay Contest” The Tribune-Democrat, 425 Locust St., P.O. Box 340, Johnstown, PA 15907-0340.



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In our online poll, readers showed preferences for retrievers and rottweilers, although every breed we listed got some support.

Our online poll asked: “What breed of dog should president-elect Barack Obama’s family get when they move into the White House?”

With 523 votes cast, readers said:

Retriever: 13.00 percent.

Rottweiler: 9.56 percent.

Beagle: 7.27 percent.

Cocker spaniel: 7.07 percent.

Dachshund: 4.59 percent.

Collie: 4.59 percent.

Poodle: 4.59 percent.

Chihuahua: 4.02 percent.

Jack Russell terrier: 4.02 percent.

Great Dane: 3.06 percent.

Basset hound: 2.87 percent.

German shepherd: 2.49 percent.

St. Bernard: 2.49 percent.

Bulldog: 2.10 percent.

Doberman: 2.10 percent.

Dalmatian: 1.15 percent.

Irish setter: 0.57 percent.

Something else: 24.47 percent.