Michelle Obama, Dolly Parton and other stars celebrate National Pet Day

Former first lady Michelle Obama celebrated National Pet Day with a photo of Bo and Sunny on Instagram. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images)

April 11 is National Pet Day, giving pet owners across the country a chance to show off their precious animal pals. Former first lady Michelle Obama took the opportunity to celebrate the occasion by sharing a photo of Bo and Sunny, the Obama family’s dogs, on Instagram.

“Happy #NationalPetDay to these two bundles of joy! Thanks for always making my day a little brighter — and for the endless cuddles,” she captioned a photo of the Portuguese water dogs.

Bo and Sunny have been a part of the Obama family for quite some time. Bo was given to daughters Malia and Sasha as a gift by Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009, shortly after Barack Obama’s first inauguration. 

“Bo’s a handsome little guy,” wrote Washington Post’s Manuel Roig-Franzia in an official profile of Bo in 2009. “Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he’s got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.”

The Obama family went on to adopt Sunny in 2013 and, according to the White House, chose the name because “it fit her cheerful personality.” 

The former president has repeatedly expressed how much his pets mean to him, describing Bo as “the only reliable friend a politician can have in Washington” in his memoir A Promised Land.

“He also gave me an added excuse to put off my evening paperwork and join my family on meandering after-dinner walks around the South Lawn,” he wrote. “It was during those moments — with the light fading into streaks of purple and gold, Michelle smiling and squeezing my hand as Bo bounded in and out of the bushes with the girls giving chase — that I felt normal and whole and as lucky as any man has a right to expect.”

The former first lady was far from the only celebrity sharing photos of their pets on National Pet Day. Dolly Parton posted a photo of her and her “favorite god dog” Billy the Kid on Instagram.

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Candace Cameron Bure‘s dog, Boris, who went viral last year due to being unexpectedly large, got a shoutout on Instagram from the Fuller House star.

Rapper Missy Elliott shared videos of her two dogs, Icy and Ms. Fendi Dior, on Twitter, with both getting thousands of likes from her fans.

Shania Twain even used the day to introduce her dog Camper to her followers on Instagram, writing that they should “expect A LOT of puppy videos from here on out.”

Jennifer Garner, meanwhile, represented cat owners with an ode to her favorite feline, Moose. 

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