In these file photos, President Bush, left, carries his dog Barney across the airport tarmac in Waco, Texas, and Former President Bill Clinton holds his three-month-old chocolate Labrador retriever Buddy.
(AP Photos)Messages left with Clinton spokespeople were not returned.
"For some people in the White House, dogs are nothing more than a symbol," Coren said, noting that Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Herbert Hoover used dogs as campaign tools to appeal to the common man.
But while the Bush and Clinton canines were intended, one way or another, to be companions for the president, the Obama family dog will belong to his young daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
"What he really needs is a sucky-face dog," Coren said. "A dog that comes up and kisses everyone."
ABCNews.com readers had no shortage of suggestions for the Obamas: Australian Shepherds, bulldogs, salukis, beagles, Chihuahuas, mixed breed shelter dogs -- and a pitbull named "Lipstick," as a nod to GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
"I think since this is going to be the pet of young girls, the girls should select the dog that 'selects' them. This is THEIR pet," one reader wrote. "I would like to see it come from a shelter, but that has to be their decision. This is a decision that they and their parents need to make without input from anyone."
A "sucky face" kind of dog, Coren said, would not only make a great playmate for the Obama girls, it would project a sense of friendliness and would be less likely to cause Obama trouble.
Coren, whose new book "The Modern Dog: A Joyful Exploration of How We Live With Dogs Today," out next month, said some presidential dogs have been less than mannerly.
President Ronald Reagan's Bouvier Des Flandres, Lucky, was exiled to the family ranch after it nipped him hard in the behind trying to "herd" the president across the lawn. Rex, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, took Lucky's place at the White House.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Scottish terrier once bit a reporter in the nose and Bush's Barney bit a Reuters TV reporter this week, breaking the skin on his finger and sending the reporter to the White House doctor.
While the Obamas have pledged to choose their own dog, most presidential dogs are gifts or were the presidents' pets before they moved into the White House, according to Claire McLean, founder of the Presidential Pet Museum.
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