Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) walks to work with his bichon frise/poodle mix, Bruin, named after the UCLA mascot. Bruin makes the weekly trip from Washington to California with Lewis.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Bruin has a dog bed under the desk in Lewis's office on the Hill.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Bruin encounters a Doberman outside the Rayburn House Office Building. Lawmakers have long brought dogs to work, one historian says. Sen. John Randolph of Virginia was often accompanied by his hunting hounds in the 19th century.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Dog toys, including an Arnold Schwarzenegger figure, are scattered on the floor of Lewis's office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.) with her beagle, Chavo. Sanchez adopted Chavo from a shelter.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Chavo slinks past staffer Justin Beckley in Sanchez's office. Chavo comes to work with the congresswoman every day and makes his rounds from desk to desk before settling on the couch in his owner's office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Chavo attends a meeting between Sanchez and Canadian businessmen in the lawmaker's office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Marsha Catron, a Sanchez staffer, takes Chavo down the stairs in the Longworth House Office Building.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
A sign on the door of Rep. Edward Whitfield's (R-Ky.) office warns visitors of the presence of his Scottish terrier, Bosley, and his Jack Russell terrier, Nigel. The rambunctious Jack Russell terrier comes to the office every day "because our dog walker can't really deal with him," Whitfield says.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Whitfield, right, and his wife, Connie Harriman-Whitfield, visit with former Hill staffer Jim Conzelman as Nigel stands on the desk in the Rayburn House Office Building. Harriman-Whitfield is senior adviser of presidential initiatives at the Humane Society of the United States.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Whitfield and Harriman-Whitfield with Nigel in Whitfield's office. Harriman-Whitfield helped organize a dog contest last year called the Congressional Canine Honors.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Harriman-Whitfield with Scottish terrier Bosley outside the Rayburn House Office Building.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Nigel has a calm moment in his owner's office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
A dog toy sits at Whitfield's feet during a staff meeting.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) holds his Shih Tzu, Trouble, at his office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
In this photo taken March 24, 2009, Byrd, left, sits with his close friend and fellow dog lover Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and his Portuguese water dogs Splash and Sunny in Byrd's office on the Hill.
Jesse Jacobs-Office of Sen. Robert C. Byrd
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) and his wife, Cheryl, with Tinker, a 7-month-old Dalmatian mix.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
A rawhide bone is among the memorabilia in Sensenbrenner's office. The lawmaker used this rawhide as a gavel when he was on the House Judiciary Committee.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Tinker is the fourth Dalmatian Sensenbrenner and wife Cheryl have adopted from a rescue agency.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Dachshund Cali licks the face of Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) in his office in the Rayburn House Office Building. Calvert was too busy to take care of an animal while working and traveling but wanted a full-time office dog. A staffer offered to adopt Cali, naming her after the congressman's home state.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Staffer Rebecca Rudman takes Cali for a swim at the Rayburn House Office Building.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Cali retrieves a tennis ball in the Rayburn building fountain.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Cali has made herself at home in Calvert's office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Tiger, a female Havanese owned by Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), plays with Pooley, a Chihuahua mix owned by Bond's communications director, Shana Marchio, in the hallway of the Russell Senate Office Building.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Courtney Ellis, a staffer in Bond's office, pets Pooley.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Tiger and Pooley sit in on a meeting.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Tiger waits for Bond to throw a University of Kansas Jayhawk dog toy in his office.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Bond and his wife, Linda, dish out noon treats for office dogs Tiger and Pooley. "I think they can tell time, because they always know when it's treat time," the senator says.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), and his bichon frise, Dakota, wait for the elevator doors to close in the U.S. Capitol.
Bill Clark-Roll Call Photos/Newscom
Conrad and others watch as staff members from the Office of the Attending Physician run to a medical emergency in the halls of U.S. Captiol.
Chip Somodevilla-Getty Images
Conrad and Dakota take questions from reporters in the Capitol.
Bill Clark-Roll Call Photos/Newscom
Conrad walks with Dakota before a conference committee hearing.
Chip Somodevilla-Getty Images
Maya, a female mutt, tries to kiss her owner Joshua Salpeter, a staffer in the office of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) reaches out to pet Archie, a West Highland terrier that belongs to Royce's chief of staff, Amy Porter, left.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Connie Harriman-Whitfield, center, and Amy Porter stop to let their dogs Bosley and Archie sniff each other.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Porter and Archie pass U.S. Capitol Police officers in the Rayburn House Office Building parking garage.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Archie awaits the return of his owner Amy Porter, wanting to be the first to welcome her back.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor Dee Swann, Troy Witcher
Text Editor Milos Balac
Producer Troy Witcher
Bo Obama, growing up in the White House