Obama announced her death Wednesday in a social media post, writing that the family had lost “a cherished member of our family” the day before. The Obamas got Sunny as a puppy in August 2013, and she quickly became a fixture of White House life alongside the family’s first dog, Bo. “All of us — including our first dog, Bo — immediately fell in love,” Obama wrote.

Keeping up with her was apparently the hard part.

“Sunny was a force of nature,” Obama wrote. “Athletic and full of boundless energy, she leapt over the hedges on the South Lawn like they weren’t even there, chasing squirrels, birds and anything else that moved.” He described her as fiercely protective of Bo, “who she rightly sensed wasn’t always as alert and attentive as she was,” and noted one running joke in the family: despite being a water dog by breed, Sunny hated getting wet.

Obama drew a clear line between his two dogs’ personalities. Bo, he said, could usually be won over with a treat. Sunny wanted something harder to fake — she “was more interested in having us run around with her, roll on the floor with her, or have her belly rubbed for as long as we were willing.” Some dogs want a snack. Others want your whole afternoon.

Bo died in 2021 after a battle with cancer. “As far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect,” Obama wrote of Sunny, “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. We will miss her terribly, and imagine she’s with her big brother now, making sure he’s okay.”