Prez sez dog sure thing

When President Obama made his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday, he naturally talked about the economy.

After all, that is important for many reasons.

However, the questions eventually got around to something that really matters: When are the two First Daughters getting a dog?

Reuters reports Obama said the pooch will arrive after a planned trip to Europe in April.

"When we get back, the dog will be in place," Obama said, adding his daughters Sasha and Malia were not the only ones looking forward to its arrival. "They say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog," he joked.

The Mercury News said there was some concern the whole dog issue was campaign puffery.

"This is Washington. That was a campaign promise," Obama joked. Cue audience laughter. "No, I'm teasing. The dog will be there shortly."

Don't toy with us, Mr. President. We wanna see paws on the ground in April.

Joanna Molloy of the N.Y. Daily News had some words of warning for the president.

She said once the dog is in the door, there will be no stopping the First Tykes. Surely, all sorts of other creatures will follow.

It happened to us. The junior member of our household is so into pets it's a bit like living with Jane Goodall — only shorter. First, we got the dog. Then we got the cat. Then we got the mice, which was weird, because keeping mice out was why we got the cat. There have been geckos, chameleons, turtles, hamsters, amphibians, birds, snakes, chinchillas and a giant arowana fish. Did you know arowana will leap out of their tank to eat the birds? Neither did I! Usually this happens with a big splash in the middle of the night, followed by very loud squawking from the parakeets.

Sounds like a chamber of horrors in the Molloy household, doesn't it?

What the heck is an arowana fish?