(NEXSTAR) – Major Biden, the 3-year-old German shepherd adopted by the Bidens in 2018, has been involved in another biting incident.
First lady Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa said that Major “nipped” someone while out for a walk on the White House South Lawn Monday afternoon. The person was treated by White House medical staff out of “an abundance of caution.”
LaRosa added that Major, the younger of the Bidens’ two dogs, is “still adjusting to his new surroundings.” Champ, the older dog, is 12.
CNN reported that the person involved in the incident was a National Park Service employee. LaRosa told the outlet that after receiving treatment the employee returned to work.
The National Park Service did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
On March 8, rescue dog Major was involved in a similar incident that White House press secretary Jen Psaki later addressed while talking to reporters.
Psaki said that Major was “surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit, with no further treatment needed.”
After that incident, the president said Major was “a sweet dog.” In an interview with ABC News, Biden explained the biting by saying that the dog had “turned a corner, there’s two people he doesn’t know at all, you know, and they move and he moves to protect.”
Biden added at the time that “85% of the people there love him.”
Major and Champ had just returned to the White House last week after a hiatus following the first incident. President Biden said the dogs weren’t being banished because of the incident, and were only staying at the couple’s Delaware home because he and the first lady were going to be away.
The dogs met the Bidens two weekends ago at Camp David in Maryland and came back to Washington on March 21. Last week, one of the two German shepherds waited on the balcony of the White House as Marine One landed on the South Lawn, having ferried the president back from a speech in Columbus, Ohio.
“The dogs will come and go and it will not be uncommon for them to head back to Delaware on occasion as the president and first lady often do as well,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
This week’s biting incident was first reported by CNN.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.