HAVERHILL — Most Haverhill students offering an opinion on a pet for President-elect Barack Obama's daughters suggested a dog or cat — but third-grader Jayden Ireland had something else in mind.

"I think you should get a baby shark," Jayden said in a letter he mailed to Sasha and Malia Obama this week. "They are unusual pets and they have good personalities."

Jayden and more than 70 other children in an after-school club at Tilton Elementary School sent handwritten letters to the Obama girls — Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10 — recommending what kind of pet they should have at the White House.

The baby shark was one of the more exotic suggestions. Many other children went with traditional choices such as dogs, cats and gerbils. Third-grader Aidan Warren hopes the girls will get a "chug,'' which he said is a cross between a pug and a Chihuahua.

"They bark a lot,'' Aidan said in his letter. "You will love a chug."

The president-elect and his wife promised their daughters they could have a pet, perhaps a dog, at their new White House home if daddy won the presidency. Now that the political battle is over, the debate is on over what kind of animal should live with the first family.

Kathy Arivella, a teacher's aide at Tilton School, encouraged children in the school's Discovery Club to come up with choices for a White House pet. She thought the project would spark their imaginations while offering them lessons in social studies, art, history, literacy and even mathematics. Children conducted a survey of the most suggested breed of dog and then graphed their results. They'll also be talking about the historic nature of Obama's victory and the upcoming inauguration.

Although his pet suggestion wasn't the most popular, third-grader Payton Collins held firm to the idea of the Obama girls getting a greyhound.

"If you do you are helping it because it doesn't race any more and needs places to roam around," Payton said in his letter.

Although second-grader Giovanni Perez didn't have much luck with the black cat he once owned, he thinks the Obama girls will have good luck if they choose a black cat.

"I had to give my cat away because he attacked visitors," Giovanni said.

Fourth-grader Cassandra Reyes never received a response from entertainer Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) when she wrote to her last year as part of a Discovery Club project. She has high hopes the Obama girls will respond to her letter suggesting they get either a parakeet or a beagle.

"If they write back it would be really cool," Cassandra said. "When I watched the election on television, I just knew Obama would win. It's really different. He's our first black president."

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