Klaus Solko, contributor

J.D. Vance, the vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party, has introduced us to his 10-month-old German shepherd named Atlas. The dog made its debut in Milwaukee on Aug. 16 and quickly made headlines. However, what caught people’s attention wasn’t the dog coming from out of nowhere, but instead was the weird way that Vance held its leash.

Commentary TikToker Suzanne Lambert released a deep dive video on Vance’s social media and wasn’t able to find a mention of Atlas before Aug. 16, and this lack of mention is even weirder when looking at how much Vance posted about Pippin, his previous dog that passed away in April. Speaking of this dog only appearing in August, the only pictures of this dog are coming from the Vance campaign specifically. Doesn’t it seem weird that none of his neighbors have taken a picture of his dog? That’s not all that’s strange about the pictures. In the New York Post article written about Atlas, it is claimed that he and Pippin were friends though there are no pictures of the two dogs together. When you analyze the various photos that the Vance campaign published, it’s easy to see — if you’re well-versed in these distinctions — different markings and even different breed traits suggesting that they are two different German shepherds. 

Looking at Atlas also brings up the question of his age. The Vance campaign claims the dog is 10 months old and born on Election Day though many people in online spaces have said that Atlas looks at least 2 years old, maybe more. His being older would explain how well trained Atlas is as well. German shepherds are guard dogs, meaning that without proper training they can become quite aggressive with strangers, especially large crowds like at the Milwaukee conference. 

While there is no mention of how Atlas has been trained, it is possible that J.D. Vance trained Atlas. However, his last dog Pippin was a labrador, which would need very different training. Police dog training, however, would include teaching Atlas how to behave in large groups and would explain why it seemed like Atlas was looking for a handler when Vance was taking him to the plane. Vance has been making a lot of references to the dog being a German shepherd, a police dog. 

Perhaps it’s all just a tactic: ask the police force privately to loan him a dog for a few photo opportunities with the press and media, praising the police in order to gain their votes only to then privately return the dog if he successfully wins. It seems to me it’s all a political media stunt. 

Could it just be for a good cop story? Democratic Vice Pres. Candidate Tim Walz has his own black lab named Scout, who has gained a lot of popularity during Walz’ candidacy, which in turn triggered Vance’s insecurity. Walz and Vance have been going head to head in the news, and it is not difficult to see who is better liked. Pets have always had a place in politics and how they make candidates look. However, not wanting this push for popularity to be obvious, they planted the story that the Vance family had gotten this dog months ago and hoped people wouldn’t look into it. It seems they forgot that in politics, lies always get found out.