Meet New York State's New First Dog

ALBANY, NY — Albany has a new top dog. Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced his administration's newest four-legged member Monday night: his 14-week-old puppy named Captain.

The Democratic governor brought out his new furry friend while hosting the New York Conference of Mayors at the Executive Mansion in Albany. Cuomo is still working on housebreaking — or "mansion-training," as he called it — the pup, who's a mix of the Siberian husky, German shepherd and Malamute breeds.

Cuomo said his daughters insisted on taking in Captain. The governor wanted to name Excelsior, after the state's motto, but said he was overruled.

"This was the idea of my daughters, who had to have a puppy, had to have a puppy. They are nowhere to be found now," Cuomo said.

Cuomo introduced the world to Captain on a day off in the federal corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, one of his former aides and close confidantes. Percoco is accused of doing official favors for an upstate energy company and a real estate developer in exchange for bribes.

Cuomo has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the trial has reportedly painted a picture of Percoco's looming influence in Cuomo's administration and how he blurred the lines between government business and political campaigning.

But with Captain, Cuomo only has to worry about cleaning up when he pees inside and his late-night howling.

"He keeps me up all night, that dog," Cuomo said. "It never fails and he has a howl that you can hear through the whole house when he has to go."

(Photos from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office via Flickr)