The Obamas are mourning the death of their beloved dog Sunny, a Portuguese water dog who joined the family at the start of their second term in the White House and was hailed in a post by the former president as “pretty much perfect.”

“Yesterday, we lost a cherished member of our family,” Barack Obama said in an announcement Wednesday that was also shared by his wife, Michelle Obama.

Sunny was one of two Portuguese water dogs who lived with the first family during their eight years in the White House. The dogs often attended children’s events and their images were routinely replicated in holiday cookies and White House decorations.

The former commander in chief shared photos of the two dogs greeting Pope Francis in the Oval Office in 2015, Sunny running the grounds of the White House, lounging in beds and sitting on a beach with a sandy snout.

Her arrival in 2013 followed the gifting of Bo, a black-and-white male, to the family in 2009 by the now-late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Bo died in 2021 after having cancer, the former first lady said at the time.

Sunny, who was distinguished from Bo by her all-black coat, was athletic, “full of boundless energy” and “loved the girls, even if they were pestering her when she was napping,” Obama said in his post.

“But as far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect, and 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 went on. “We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”

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