But Obama's hero, Abraham Lincoln, had a mixed-breed dog named Fido who didn't make the trip to the White House. Lyndon B. Johnson also had a mutt, Yuki, named for the Japanese word for snow.

"Johnson's daughter Luci found the dog at a gas station in Texas on Thanksgiving Day in 1966. Yuki became Johnson's favorite pet," said Cathy Trost, exhibits chief at the Newseum, which has an exhibit on first dogs.

Of course, purebreds have their backers, and not just because knowing the breed makes it easier to predict how the dogs will affect Malia's allergies.

"If it was me, I would get a purebred. I think they're just better dogs," said Anthony Madrigal, 19, of Scherville, Ind. "I would love to get a Husky, but I can't afford it."

But many Americans figure there are bigger issues for Obama to worry about. Pat Schoff, 55, of Baltimore, has a miniature pinscher herself but says different choices work for different people.

"I guess in all reality, a dog's a dog," she said.

Barbara Hamilton of Franklin, Ind., says she likes the idea of the Obamas taking in a shelter dog. But the lifelong Republican who voted for Obama says she would forgive him if he didn't.

"Of all the decisions that he has to make, maybe it's better to let the girls make that decision," said Hamilton, 76.

The AP-Petside.com poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from Dec. 3-8 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 randomly chosen adults and an oversample of 1,129 pet owners. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for all adults and plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for pet owners.

Petside.com is a Web site with information and advertisements about pets and pet products.

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Associated Press polling director Trevor Tompson contributed to this report.