President-elect Barack Obama Friday admitted he faced a monumental challenge after promising¹ his daughters Sasha, seven, and Malia, 10 a dog after the campaign, saying some of the pooches the first family-to-be were considering were "mutts like me."

"With respect to the dog, this is a major issue. I think it has generated more interest on our website than just about anything," Obama said at the press conference after the election.

In revealing that Malia is allergic², Obama stressed the need for a hypoallergenic breed of dog, which produces fewer allergic reactions in people.

But he said the family needed to reconcile that with their preference for dogs obtained from an animal shelter, which are often mixed-breeds.

"There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic, but on the other hand our preference is to get a shelter dog. But obviously, a lot of the shelter dogs are mutts like me," he quipped.

Obama's mother was a white woman from Kansas and his father was from Kenya.

His race has been a point of discussion since he launched his bid for the presidency³ nearly two years ago, and his Tuesday victory triggered a wave of elation⁴ as people around the globe celebrated⁵ an African-American elected to lead the world's most powerful nation.

In his victory speech Tuesday night, Obama revealed the family was getting a puppy.

"Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House," he said to wild applause.

Presidential pets have long been a focus of intense interest. Every president since Calvin Coolidge, elected in 1923, has had at least one dog in the White House, according to dogsinthenews.com.

新当选美国总统的巴拉克•奥巴马于上周五坦称，他在大选获胜后答应两个女儿——10岁的玛丽娅和7岁的萨莎养一只宠物狗的承诺现在成了件大事。他调侃说，他们正考虑一些“像他一样的混血的狗”。

奥巴马在大选后的新闻发布会上说：“挑选宠物狗成了眼下的一件要事。现在这件事在我们网站上的关注度高于其它任何事情。”

由于女儿玛丽娅有过敏史，所以奥巴马强调必须挑选一种不易引起人过敏的狗。

但奥巴马一家又想从动物收容所挑选一只宠物狗，这里的狗大多是混血品种。

他调侃道：“低过敏性的狗品种倒有不少，但另一方面，我们想从动物收容所收养一只狗。很显然，大多收容所里的狗都像我一样，是混血的。”

奥巴马的母亲是美国堪萨斯州的白人，他的父亲是肯尼亚人。

自奥巴马参加总统竞选近两年来，他的种族问题一直是热议的焦点。他于上周二赢得大选胜利后引发了了一阵欢庆潮，世界各地的人们纷纷庆祝一名非洲裔当选为美国总统。

奥巴马在当晚的胜选演说中“透露”他们一家会养一只宠物狗。

他对台下尽情欢呼的支持者们说：“萨莎、玛丽娅，我爱你们，你们姐妹俩就能带着宠物狗来到白宫了。”

白宫宠物狗一直是美国民众关注的焦点。据dogsinthenews.com网站统计，自1923年卡尔文•柯立芝当选美国总统后，每届总统家至少有一只宠物狗。