Major, the newer of the 2 German Shepherds, had a "biting incident" at the White House, and that's the end of the lovely little story about how bad Donald Trump had no dogs, no warmth, no love, but then Joe Biden bounded in, restoring the love and life that we'd known when Barack Obama and his faithful pal Bo stood guard over the nation. Yes, Joe got off to a bad start, what with his strange game of pulling his dog's tail, which left him with a broken foot, but it was puffed in the press as part of the sheer exuberance of Joe Biden and his "little pup."
Who knows all the troubles poor little Major had in the White House leading up to this last offense, a full-on bite? It must be hard to give up your dog in front of the public, to whom he's been photo-op'd so obediently by the press, but perhaps the press can forefront the greater inhumanity of Donald Trump, the man who could not even associate himself with a dog in the first place.
ADDED: I'm sure no one will say such awful things as: Biden purports to be capable of leading the world, but he cannot even govern his own dog. Nor will anyone think to google questions like "When Is It Time to Put Down a Dog Who is Aggressive to People?" The dog will have disappeared into the oblivion that is Delaware before any churl thinks to venture such a remark.
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103 comments:
Good stuff, AA. This is why I read your blog.
Lack of training, which surprises me for a man of Biden's intellect.
Our German Shepherd is 4 now. When dogs are young they all nip, as did our Ziggy. Every time Ziggy would nip, we would stuff our hand in his mouth - hard. You want to bite, eat this! Never had an issue.
LOL Prof. Ann, I saw this (6am EU time) Between "wall to wall" Harry and Megan, there is this from the Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9341005/Joe-Bidens-dogs-taken-Delaware-displaying-aggressive-behavior-biting-incident.html
Dr.Jill is out of town, from the same article "Dr. Biden departed Monday afternoon for a two-day trip to Washington and California to visit military bases."
Don't feel too bad for the Biden's, they will still have pets milling about the White House. Acosta, Carl and Alcindor come to mind.
The smile on my face right now...
Good one Humperdink!!
Perhaps the dog became “agitated”. Like his owner.
Somebody needs to set up a GoFundMe to fund a nonprofit to assure us that Major doesn't end up like Buddy.
Buddy Clinton
What kind of moron keeps a German Shepard as a pet. They are working dogs, and are not going to be satisfied with a 20 minute walk a day and cooped up in a house or pen the rest of the time. German Shepards are great dogs. We had one on the farm when I was a kid. Watched over the house, barn, chickens, and cows. Our farm was separated by a graveled county road, and that dog knew his property on both sides of the road and watched over it, and played like mad with we kids, and never offered to bite one of us. But you let someone or something threaten one of us, or come sneaking around at night, and the friendly facade disappeared in 0 seconds flat. German Shepards are intelligent, hard working dogs, and you have to give them work to keep them happy.
That's why you buy American!
Any Biden dog wasn’t long for the White House anyway.
What other stuff of his is still sitting in Delaware?
Hahhahahahhahahhha!
What breed of dog does President Harris have?
What Tim said.
Nazi bastard!
Are you suggesting that the dogs are just an accessory? A sort of hat or watch that Joe puts on to make some statement or other about how wonderful and distinctive his taste is?
Inconceivable!
When a dog bites a person, my first thought is, what did the person do to deserve it? We all know the dogs are for photo ops and neither Biden nor Obama has anything to do with their actual care. ("Had" in Obama's case as the dog is no longer with us, having met the same sad fate as so many other dogs who have irresponsible owners.)
The Big Dogs have been replaced by The Lap Dogs of the Fake News.
Well, this means that Joe has lasted longer in the White House than his dogs. I would not have taken that wager if I were a betting person.
mezzrow said...Somebody needs to set up a GoFundMe to fund a nonprofit to assure us that Major doesn't end up like Buddy.
Buddy Clinton
It seems I was confusing Bo with Buddy. According to Wikipedia, Bo is still alive.
Where does Cesar Millan visit the White House?
Seriously, though, is there no Secret Service agent with K-9 experience who could exercise and train up Major?
Let's change a few words in the linked to story about Major and his concerning behavior..."Joe, who is 78 years old, has been known to display agitated behavior on multiple occasions, including aggressively sniffing the hair of females, calling out a person as a dog face pony soldier, and declaring he would like to beat up a former president behind the high school gym." Yes, it's understandable that such behavior warrants concern.
The dogs are no longer needed. They served their purpose now they gotta go.
Can Major legally be relegated back to Delaware? He had an Inauguration and everything. I don't think he can just be forced to stop performing his duties.
I'm glad AA said those awful things. Saves the rest of us from having to say them.
Beautiful dog.
I wonder if he bit Joe.
Maybe Joe wouldn't quit pulling his tail and the dog was fed up with it.
Tim is correct. This type of animal needs things to do, places to go, and work to do, not old men pulling it's tail (what a bullshit story from the get-go). It got none of what it needed, and was probably going nuts at the White House/wherever it was.
The dogs did nothing wrong.
Well the guy did use “dog-faced” as an insult.
And Major has a very handsome dog face.
I’d be pissed, too.
What boatbuilder said.
The "all or nothing" of politics gets me. Donald Trump was supposedly a horrible human being for not having a family pet in the White House. Joe Biden has two dogs ( with a cat possibly in his future). He must be wonderful. Neither is true.
In one of the linked articles, it said that the dogs usually went back to Delaware when Dr. Biden was out of town. As other have stated, different breeds have different needs. However most pets need stability and structure. 6 weeks in the very different environment of the White House would not have been enough for most pets. The constant back and forth would have taken much longer than that for the acclimation to take place. One of my rescue cats took 7 months with just family around.
So large German Shepherds perhaps are not best suited for a building with new and different people constantly in an out. If you want to try and make it work, then you have someone who spends the time and effort with them consistently.
In a rational world, people understand that but, because we have to paint one man (who possibly didn't have a pet because he knew his life style was not one where the pet would be comfortable) as an ogre and another as a hero, rational is not acceptable.
"They went to live on a farm".
Humperdink, you forgot the circle-back retriever named Psaki.
Major and Joe probably won't be apart for long.
My dog, a rescue with us since June, has never bitten... but she did threaten to once. We are about to spend considerable money, time, and effort on training to ensure that she is as close to 100% obedient as possible, because we're responsible for her behavior.
Dogs aren't props and they're not even pets in the same sense that, say, a fish or a hamster is; dogs, and to a much lesser extent cats, can do serious and semi-purposeful harm to people and property, and it's up to those responsible for them to prevent it. So I guess I'm glad the Biden administration made the responsible decision to remove a potentially dangerous or destructive dog (through no fault of his own, I totally agree with posters above about that - how much can you expect a dog to take in stride?) from an environment in which he might do harm. They might instead have decided that the "optics" were too bad and rolled the dice on being able to keep him under control at all times.
The dogs will be better off in Delaware, with whoever actually took care of them there.
In my life I have experienced 3 instances of a dog biting a person.
All three were taken out behind the barn and shot.
Dogs are animals. They always have it in them to respond like animals.
When a dog bites a person once, it is not if it will happen again. Just who will be the next victim.
Just a wild coincidence, that Sunday night we got home about 7pm from visiting the Grand kids in IL. I had loaned by generator to my son because he was building a tree house in the small woods behind his house, so we brought it back home.
When I backed up to the garage, I unstrapped the generator was trying to figure out how I was going the leverage the handles to get the generator to the ground when the young man that just moved in next door hollered and asked if I could use some help. I accepted and he trotted over to the 4 ft fence between us and jumped over it. Out of nowhere, our 25 lb terrier mix was at his ankles, teeth bared, claiming her turf. Surprising because she had been over the to neighbors and they knew each other. But the running, and breaking that physical boundary, triggered her protective senses.
But, if she had taken a bite out of the interloper, she would no longer be with us.
Dogs are animals
Bidens German Shepherds are a victim of poor,or non-existent training. We had a Rottweiler/Setter mix, that was 125 lbs. The most gentle beast, but strangers were terrified of him. That suited me just fine. He was never put in a place to defend us, but I am sure he would have demonstrated some scary aggressive actions. But his temperament was the result of us paying for some in depth obedience training, so the family could control him. Including our ~12 year old, 4'10" daughter, who weighed less than the dog.
Did he bite a black guy? With the paucity of information this may be a distinct possibility.
"Dr. Biden departed Monday afternoon for a two-day trip to Washington and California to visit military bases."
21 gun salute and a hand salute?
That's why you buy American!
Chihuahuas and Malamutes are probably the most "American" dog breeds, maybe also the Carolina dog.
I'm sure no one will say such awful things as: Biden purports to be capable of leading the world, but he cannot even govern his own dog.
[chuckling to myself]
Chihuahuas and Malamutes are probably the most "American" dog breeds,
Tennessee blue tick hound.
I'm also sure no one would say awful things like "Joe still has Kamala, and she seems like one hell of a..."
I used to take my dog, a part-German-Shepherd to the bookstore where I worked. The college students loved him and loved patting him. He was part-Samoyed with deep soft fur and was like a rescue dog for stressed students. But after about six weeks he began to regard the store as his space to be defended. He took to growling if people ran in the door or were noisy and wrestling with each other playfully as college kids do. I had to stop bringing him. March 8th 2021 is about six weeks after Major moved into the White House and perhaps he now regards it as his space. But - who was running, shouting or wrestling in the White House?
Clearly the dog is a member of antifa.
Reminds me of this exchange in the classic film, "Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown":
Charlie Brown: I could use leadership qualities.
Peppermint Patty: You said it, Chuck. You couldn't lead a dog on a leash.
In my life I have experienced 3 instances of a dog biting a person.
All three were taken out behind the barn and shot.
That's pretty harsh, shooting somebody just because a dog bit them!
How far to Delaware? Are dogs allowed on the Amtrak train? What if they have a history of biting? Can a dog be strapped to the roof of a Secret Service vehicle?
I can't resist a variant of Monty Python's cheese shop: do you mind the bouzouki music in the background? No of course not, it's fine. Some time goes on, maybe the music gets louder, "Cut the bloody bouzouki!"
In this case: hey, I'm a likeable guy, a family guy, I love Hunter despite everything, I'm everything that asshole Trump is not, I love dogs, ... I'm ok with the barking ... OK, get that fucking dog out of here.
Wm Koehler has a way to train a dog out of biting, in his novice dog training book.
The more the dog is inclined to bite, the easier it is.
Seriously, though, is there no Secret Service agent with K-9 experience who could exercise and train up Major?
Why would that be in the job description of a Secret Service Agent? Why should taxpayers pay to train up a pet?
Obama's dog bit someone, too. So did W's.
Trump exhibited the most kindness to animals by not bringing a dog into the White House shitshow.
The most bite-prone dog is the Cocker Spaniel. It may be because it's most likely to be in bite-producing situations among the clueless.
The Secret Service is supposed to take a bullet for the dog anyway.
Let's see what happens when Biden bites somebody.
Dog version of "just say no."
Lots of farms in Delaware. I'm sure Joey is relieved to know that Major is happy.
Our GSD has been through numerous obedience training sessions. A couple of things from the trainer might prove valuable to non-dog people.
> Never walk towards a strange dog. Make it walk towards you. The dog will generally, though not always, assume the subservient role. Look at the ears. Ears down, calm dog.
> Never look directly into a strange dog's eyes. You are a perceived threat.
Kevin asked:
“ What other stuff of his is still sitting in Delaware?”
His brain? Joe has Alzheimer’s. I know it, you know it, the Dems knew it when they nominated him. It’s a feature not a bug.
Taco Tuesday!!
Biden's dog Major.....Not only an UNtrained dog with bad discipline....Biden has one of the breeds that requires much attention, training, exercise, interaction with the "pack" to be a "good" dog.
Shepherds are very smart and get bored easily. They like to have jobs and duties to perform. I doubt that Biden, having dementia and being in a declining physical state has the ability to handle a dog of any kind, much less a German Shepherd.
Dogs also require stability and consistency in the pack and a clear definition of WHO is the pack leader. If not, the dog will decide that HE is the pack leader and will disciple the rest of the pack accordingly. Bite, growl and become aggressive.
The dog is probably confused and maybe even psychotic with its past life as a rescue.. and current unsettled, weird life.
Dogs, and other pets, are not just photo op props. They are living thinking beings and if you don't have the time or ability to own a dog....be man enough to admit it and don't have pets. Do like Trump. Don't have a dog because it doesn't work in YOUR life and screw the media who only want photo ops.
Dr.Jill is out of town, from the same article "Dr. Biden departed Monday afternoon for a two-day trip to Washington and California to visit military bases."
How about DR. Jill get the Pentagon to give decent food to the Praetorian Guards.
So Joe can't visit troops. Doesn't he trust them?
What the Hell is SHE doing visiting Military Bases.
Dr.Jill is out of town, from the same article "Dr. Biden departed Monday afternoon for a two-day trip to Washington and California to visit military bases."
How about DR. Jill get the Pentagon to give decent food to the Praetorian Guards.
So Joe can't visit troops. Doesn't he trust them?
What the Hell is SHE doing visiting Military Bases.
I've had four German Shepherds and they require handling skills and a certain amount of robustness to responsibly own. No way is Biden fit enough to handle a German Shepherd. The country, maybe, but not a German Shepherd.
I grew up with Dobermans. We only had one problem with both Dobes (one male and one female) over a 10+ year span. I was talking for a long time with neighbors and a kid came up behind the dog to pet him. The dog reacted instinctively and bit the kid on the arm. It was not the dog's fault. It was my fault.
People are usually as scared of Dobermans as they are of German Shepherds. However, our Dobes were incredibly gentle with family members. They are also incredibly protective. They should not be placed in a position where they have extended contact with people that they might see as threats to their family.
People are usually as scared of Dobermans as they are of German Shepherds. However, our Dobes were incredibly gentle with family members.
Back about 40 years ago, I was told by a friend who had a pair of Dobermans that breeders had been unable to sell Doberman pups because of the reputation of viscousness. As a result they were bred specifically for gentleness and, after about 20 years, the breed had become dominated by this trait.
What the Hell is SHE doing visiting Military Bases.
She is signing his EOs so I guess she is in change,
Well if fluffy stupid stories are the fare of the day, I’ll take a whack at it. All i can think of when i see this topic is:
1. The press lied and covered for Joe’s dog incident and showed no interest in giving us actual facts.
2. Joe chases digs and pulls their tails while naked and wet from a shower WTF.
3. Joe explained that he “slipped” while traversing “the alley between the bathroom and (his) bedroom” WTF.
NONE of the above raised any interest in Pravda or Izvestia or among the talking heads on TV.
WTF
What kind of moron keeps a German Shepard as a pet. They are working dogs, and are not going to be satisfied with a 20 minute walk a day and cooped up in a house or pen the rest of the time. German Shepards are great dogs.
Which is why they’re great pets. I’ve had 3 in a row, and they’ve all been wonderful. It’s called training.
It’s typical of a farm person to look at dogs like they’re just part of the livestock.
Might I suggest Joe get a support animal or a pocket dog. It will be helpful to him in his current state of mind.
The dogs are banished. Hunter stays.
Trump could have used a Jack Russell Terrier to sniff out the White House rats.
Barack will be visiting soon...better safe than sorry.
That's three sharp paragraphs right there, Ann... well said.
German Shepherds are great, but the purebreds have been excessively inbred, which causes health issues. We had one for 10 years but would not likely have another.
I would describe Major as "a mutt with German Shepherd markings"
Dogs that are aggressive toward other people haven't been properly trained. Its not a dog problem, its a people problem.
"Yes, Joe got off to a bad start, what with his strange game of pulling his dog's tail, "
- while naked.
I would never get a German Shepard, a Pitbull, or a Doberman. Just don't have the space or the time for them. They need exercise and activity.
Just think of it as rendition to a black site in Delaware...
Dogs are often very good judges of character/intent/threats. Good emotional in. Wonder who was picked up as a threat to Biden inside the WH? Kamala? Rice? SS detail?
Smart dogs won't work for a tail pulling moron. I'm in my late 70s and have had dogs all my life. They do need to be trained--and they need to be worked with. A dog as accessory for photo ops doesn't cut it. A dog with guarding characteristics can't deal with a White House with more foot traffic than a train station.
My current dog--a 30 pound "rescue" is just fine with people--but extremely aggressive towards all other animals. We board her occasionally at a local veterinarian where the dog is thought of as "crazy but fun". The dog is the most difficult one I've ever worked with. I would not have been able to handle a dog with her problems early on. But in a restricted situation (fenced yard, retired couple at home and not working each day) she is a rewarding little character.
I imagine that whenever the cameras were off, the dogs got handed over to whichever bored subordinate was tasked with taking care of them, and I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts it wasn't Kinduva Dr. Jill.
I wish I had noted somewhere besides my mind that German Shepherds were a bad idea in the White House.
Too many different people. Too much chance someone would be skittish which means the dog would be more likely to lash out at them.
"Too much chance someone would be skittish which means the dog would be more likely to lash out at them."
Dogs sense anxiety.
The only person my dog (who loves everyone) acted standoffish with was a 5-year-old girl.
The girl walked toward my dog slowly and held out her hand but my dog backed off and went under a bench I was sitting on.
I apologized to the grandmother of the girl and told her I had never seen that behavior before.
She said that the girl had been bitten by a dog a year or so before.
Perhaps this is the kind of thing that AA hoped no one would say, but Major was a rescue from a shelter, which means there was something wrong in his early socialization. The reports made it sound like a bad environment. Maybe an attentive owner could overcome that damage, but the Biden family hasn’t been that attentive. Sadly, I expected a problem with Major when I first heard that they got a rescue.
I grew up with Dobermans, at least from elementary school on, and my parents still have them -- three or sometimes four (Mom works with a dobie rescue in Maryland, and occasionally they need one boarded). They've all been sweet, especially the first (Liebling, she was called), with one exception. Serpico I believe turned out to have something organically wrong with his brain. He was a very big dog, and when he took to growling at the family at random, something was obviously very wrong. Eventually my parents had him euthanized. (Among other things, Mom addressed the nail-clipping, using a Dremel tool -- basically a small, rotating cylinder of grinding material fitted to a drill bit -- and even though she was very good at not hitting the quick, he would have been extremely dangerous if she ever had.)
Dobies are big, potentially aggressive animals, and constantly full of energy that's tough to burn off, especially if you're 80 years old with a couple of knee replacements! I should add that, like other dogs, ours were very protective of the home. My parents had and have very few home visitors, and if any came/come by, the dogs are generally put in a bedroom or held back by a gate. Even if they're not inclined to bite you, you're apt to be terrified in your own right, and frightened people always make a dog nervous. Not a good thing.
One more anecdote: My husband and I visited them once when they were still living in NJ; he and Mom and I were out walking the dogs when Kojak (red dobie, generally sweet) casually sidled over to him and attempted to take a big bite out of his crotch. Fortunately his car keys in his pocket ran interference :-) That was unusual behavior -- no growls or other threats, just walk up and bite.
So the window dressing pets are now banished as they would not act the part they were acquired for - predictable.
I hope the dogs get rescued for real this time and find a forever home that will take care of them and love them and not use them for props for dumbass political points.
I also hope the person bitten sues the krap out of the Biden's for keeping dangerous animals in the White House.
I’m a vet and have worked around dogs all my life. I can count the number of bites I’ve gotten on one hand, but two of these were by German Shepherds and both times on my face.
First was when I was in high school working at a kennel. Pup was about 10 months old and very anxious, and cowering at the back of the run. Thought I’d gotten him calm enough to slip the leash on but because he felt cornered he lunged at me. Didn’t do any real damage but scared the crap out of me.
Second time a really aggressive one managed to bite with a muzzle on while I was trying to examine him. This was a huge, powerful dog. Since he couldn’t open his jaw he basically snarled and hit my cheek with his canine tooth. Had to get 11 stitches and had a scar for a while but vitamin E oil has made it virtually invisible now.
I don’t have anything against the breed and have seen many that are great dogs. They’re just one of those breeds though that can be dangerous when there’s a combination of poor breeding and inadequate socialization and training.
When I was married, my wife got me a present of an English Bull Terrier (long story).
The dog was from a reputable (and expensive) breeder.
The dog was great with the usual issues of tons of energy and eating everything in sight, not just food.
We spent a lot on surgery to remove large objects that should not have been ingested.
But when we had a baby three years later, he got territorial.
At one point I reached down to pick up one of the dog's toys and he latched onto my arm and would not let go for a minute or so.
I could not have that behavior around a baby...what if my toddler had picked up a dog toy instead?
Dog went back to the breeder and was put down.
Sadly, I expected a problem with Major when I first heard that they got a rescue.
+1. I know a dog lover, and back in the day he expressed concerns over the modern trend towards acquiring rescue dogs. He said that unless you get a breed that is known for being friendly and docile, well, they can turn out okay but it takes time, patience, and a lot of attention, not to mention knowing what you are doing.
I discovered my half-Lab was racist when he was a 6 month old puppy, and ran towards my Black neighbor barking like a maniac. I immediately offered to remove the dog from the neighborhood, but my neighbor explained that he'd learned long ago that dogs are pack animals, who will defend the pack (i.e., attack) whenever someone different comes along. Black skin, not what the dog saw every day in our house, triggered the attack. Such an attack never happened again. My neighbor was more tolerant and understanding than I was. I almost got rid of the dog anyway.
A neighbor's German Shep was abused by some rednecks in a gray pickup truck, who threw beer bottles at the poor dog when he was in his fenced front yard. This was explained to me by his owner, when I asked why his dog barked aggressively at my gray truck every time I drove by his house.
My brother's well-trained Rotter spent an afternoon being shot with a Red Rider BB gun by the kid next door. It took six months of retraining to prevent the murder-by-dog of that stupid kid, who didn't understand that the only reason he lived through his abusive behavior was the stout walls of the dog's outdoor kennel.
Dogs will be dogs. Don't expect otherwise.
Maybe Major did not want Greatness Thrust Upon Him.
I will never forget back in the pre digital days when Clinton brought the cat Socks to the White House. The newspapers had hilarious pictures of photographers angling to get a good picture of the cat. One of them was cut out and hung up for years at my house, with the caption: "Socks has greatness thrust upon him upon after arriving at the White House."
Maybe Major is more like me - preferring anonymity and a lack of cameras in my face. "Please send me back to Delaware so I can roam free and be my true bitey self."
"It’s typical of a farm person to look at dogs like they’re just part of the livestock."
It's typical of someone who has never been on a farm to make assumptions about"farm people". Just so you know, what is typical is for farm people to look at dogs as part of the working family. Because we all had our jobs including the dogs and we all did them. And most people with jobs do not have time to keep a working dog busy enough to keep them happy. Which is why there are so many lap dogs and so few working dogs left in the world.
"When Is It Time to Put Down a Dog Who is Aggressive to People?".
How about:
"When is it time to put down a president who is aggressive to freedom?"
...too soon?
"I discovered my half-Lab was racist when he was a 6 month old puppy, and ran towards my Black neighbor barking like a maniac."
Black Labs Matter.
Yours maybe only half as much.
"I’m a vet and have worked around dogs all my life. I can count the number of bites I’ve gotten on one hand, but two of these were by German Shepherds and both times on my face."
Vets seem to have a bit of hubris about dealing with big dogs? My GSD has put his mouth on three people, all vets, all in my presence when I wasn't the one holding him. The last two ignored me when I told them I should hold him. He caught all three on the arm of the lab coat, and didn't break any skin.
"The dog will have disappeared into the oblivion that is Delaware
Wrong again!
"President Biden and first lady Jill Biden’s two dogs will return to the White House from Delaware, the White House press secretary said Tuesday"
Wash Post
3/9/21
those dogs will never be seen again, unless it's on the Obamas table.
Bet the dog has been euthanized already. He served his purpose and can be disposed of. Of course the lapdog media would never report that story. Democrats are shit people.
@Rory...
Hubris....a matter of perspective I guess. From my side of the exam table, I’d say there’s a lot of hubris in dog owners who think they can better handle their pet than our well trained and very experienced veterinary technicians can.
There are cases when I have a relationship with an owner and I really do know their capabilities and trust them to hold, but most times I’d be putting myself and my staff at risk. And when performing procedures like blood draws, it’s really not fair to the patient to have an inexperienced holder anyway as it will end up taking much longer and causing more discomfort.
"those dogs will never be seen again, unless it's on the Obamas table."
Not that I needed reminding but the 50th anniversary of Ali-Frazier I reminded me once again how much the cracker crowd hates uppity black people.
100 comments...yes!!
Now 101...fuck!!!
Anytime the Democrats want to stop the lying, they're welcome to start.
Wow, thousands are pouring in from the south while the country is absorbed with a dog and two spoiled brats.
Guess this is what the end of enlightenment looks like.
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