Champ And Major: Here's How Old Joe Biden's Dogs Are

Champ and Major Biden are, may we say, probably some of the cutest residents the White House has ever seen. A quick scroll through the First Family Dogs' Instagram will have you overwhelmed by SO MUCH doggie adorableness. If there's anything that can bring our divided nation together, it would have to be this pair of presidential pups.

In their first month in office, Champ and Major already have been the subject of their own picture book titled Champ and Major: First Dogs (via Amazon), and now — this just in — they are going to be making an appearance on Super Bowl Sunday. We're talking, of course, about the Puppy Bowl. One thing we've been wondering, though, as we eagerly soak up each scrap of information available about our latest canine crushes: Just how old are these handsome hounds? Champ, the senior of the two brothers-from-other-mothers, is a distinguished older gentleman of 12, while Major, the baby of the family, is just two years old.

Champ's no stranger to life in D.C. Politico noted that he moved into the vice president's residence with his family after the 2009 inauguration. He wasn't the first of his breed to bear the last name Biden, however. In 2008, then Vice President-elect Joe Biden told ABC's This Week, "I've had German shepherds since I was a kid, and I've actually trained them and shown them in the past (via Politico)." Champ was named in memory of Biden's dad, who used to tell his son, "Anytime you get knocked down, champ — get up!" (Advice our new POTUS obviously took to heart.)

Major came along a decade later, when Ashley Biden urged her dad, who was looking for a companion for Champ, to look at some shelter pups that needed a home. The Bidens first fostered Major and then adopted him a few months later from the Delaware Humane Association (via NPR). The Delaware Humane Association couldn't be prouder of their best-known success story, even throwing an online "Indoguration" a few days before Biden was sworn in as President (via YouTube). 

While these two are the White House's only animal inhabitants at present, that may change pretty soon. Per The New York Times, the first lady has hinted that she might like a feline friend. Way to keep things bipartisan!