First Dog Bites Reporter

Seems that President George W. Bush’s dog Barney may not be particularly happy at the prospect of leaving the only house he’s ever known. On Thursday, the Scottish Terrier bit a reporter on the finger.

“I was just trying to pet Barney,” said Reuters Television correspondent Jonathan Decker, who encountered the dog outside the White House. “Unfortunately he was not in the mood to be pet.”

White House medical staff examined Decker, who spoke to reporter April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks, after the incident. “Unfortunately it broke the skin and I have to be on antibiotics for a few days,” he says. Decker will also require a tetanus shot.

Barney, who turned eight years old on Sept. 30, has starred in nine White House “films” with President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush’s other Scottish Terrier, Miss Beazley, and a who’s who of Bush’s political team, including former deputy chief of staff Karl Rove.