Dale Haney (born November 4, 1951) is an American gardener who is the superintendent of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

grounds. In 2022, he celebrated his 50th anniversary tending to the 18 acres of White House gardens and grounds. He has also taken responsibility to walk presidential dogs from

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

Irish Setter The Irish Setter ( ga, sotar rua, literally "red setter") is a setter, a breed of gundog, and family dog. The term ''Irish Setter'' is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognised by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred ...

King Timahoe to Joe Biden's

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Background

Haney received a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Sandhills College at

Pinehurst, North Carolina Pinehurst is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 13,124. It is home of the historic Pinehurst Resort, a Golf resort, which has hosted multiple United States Open Champion ...

. He then accepted an internship at the

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, M ...

historic estate in the Georgetown

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

White House service

In early 1972, Haney was hired as a gardener at the White House. His titles over the years included gardener, foreman, and chief horticulturalist. He became superintendent of the White House grounds in 2008. His responsibilities have included serving as the White House's chief bird chaser, giving garden tours, overseeing the

White House Rose Garden The White House Rose Garden is a garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. The garden is approximately 125 feet long and 60 feet wide ( by , or about 684m²). It balances the Jacquel ...

, preparing the grounds for events ranging from the

White House Easter Egg Roll Egg rolling, or an Easter egg roll is a traditional game played with eggs at Easter. Different nations have different versions of the game, usually played with hard-boiled, decorated eggs. History In Christianity, for the celebration of Easterti ...

s to state arrival ceremonies, selecting

White House Christmas tree The White House Christmas Tree, also known as the Blue Room Christmas Tree, is the official indoor Christmas tree at the residence of the president of the United States, the White House. The first indoor Christmas tree was installed in the White ...

s, and tending to the plants in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

. Haney has also been the dog walker for presidential dogs, starting with

Irish setter The Irish Setter ( ga, sotar rua, literally "red setter") is a setter, a breed of gundog, and family dog. The term ''Irish Setter'' is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognised by the American Kennel Club as well as the field-bred ...

King Timahoe and continuing through

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's Scottish terriers,

Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

and

Miss Beazley Miss Beazley (October 28, 2004 – May 17, 2014) was a Scottish Terrier which belonged to former U.S. President George W. Bush and former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush. Miss Beazley's father, a Scottish terrier named Clinton, was born on ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Portuguese Water Dog The Portuguese Water Dog originated from the Algarve region of Portugal. From there the breed expanded to all around Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, retrieve lost tackle or broken nets, and act as ...

Bo, and Joe Biden's German shepherd

. He recalled having an especially loving relationship with George W. Bush's dogs, one of which was born at the White House and was

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

in 2004 after several strokes. During the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, Haney collected President Bush's pets from the White House residence and "kept them safe until they could be reunited with first lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

." In 2022, Haney celebrated his 50th anniversary working at the White House. At the time, the '' White House History Quarterly'' published a special issue devoted to Haney's career, and first lady

Jill Biden Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (born June 3, 1951) is an American educator and the current first lady of the United States since 2021, as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her hus ...

cited his service to ten presidents and noted that she and her husband were "forever grateful for his continued service." On September 13, 2023, Dale Haney was bitten by Joe Biden's German shepherd

. This resulted in the First Dog being evicted on October 5, 2023, from the White House.https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/10/04/politics/commander-biden-white-house/index.html

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haney, Dale 1951 births American gardeners Living people White House staff People working with dogs National Park Service personnel