The Office Dogs of Capitol Hill
"If you want a friend in Washington, Get a dog."
~ Harry S. Truman
There is a long history of office dogs on Capitol Hill. In the1800’s, Virginia Congressman, John Randolph, brought his pack of hunting dogs to the House floor on a regular basis. While this annoyed his colleagues then, the office dog has become a welcome fixture in modern times. Senator Ted Kennedy famously brought his Portuguese Water dogs to the office to help break the ice with fellow lawmakers.
Dogs have access like no one else—they sit in on important meetings, greet constituents and act as sounding boards during the legislation writing process. From rescue dogs to purebreds, Democrats to Republicans to Committee staffers, I’ve photographed pups from all sides of the political debate. Everyone I met was thoughtful and generous with their time. We connected with kindness and respect.
The office dogs on Capitol Hill are doing their part to remind us of our common humanity. Now it’s up to us to follow their lead.
If you work on Capitol Hill and bring your pup to work or work with a Representative who owns a dog, I'm still shooting for this project. Contact me for more information.
To see the full gallery of office dogs, click here.
Press for this project:
Garden & Gun Magazine
aphotoeditor