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PIPER'S STORY
My name is Piper and I first came to 4 Paws when I
was 10 months old. Gracie and I were 2 of 4 pups born to our Mom, Holly.
Gracie and I were best of friends as puppies and often spent hours
playing together. It was so hard for me when I was a baby because when
we turned 8 weeks old Gracie and my brothers left for homes of their
own. Gracie, was especially close to me. As a wee pup she had to learn
to walk, something my brothers and I took for granted. We would cheer her
on as she practiced balancing. Let me tell you, in the first week of
life, balance while walking is hard enough with 4 legs. Gracie had to
learn how to balance on three legs and at the same time compensate for
the added weight of her disabled front leg. She learned in time to hop
sort of like a bunny and after many falls to the side where her leg is
curled beneath her she caught on and could run almost as fast as we
could. Today, in a contest, I think Gracie just might win but mostly
that is because she cheats, really she will run across the circle
instead of around it and hit the finish line first. Of course if that
doesn't work she will tackle me and as I recover, she is running for the
finish line. I give you this piece of advise, while I love Gracie
dearly, never trust a Papillon on three legs. Getting back to my story -
Gracie has a way of making everything about her and even now she is
taking over my story! Back in sunny California, at just 8 weeks of age I
found myself alone. Well My Mom was there and I had adult friends who
lived in the house but I missed my siblings.
Before long, Sue, the woman who lives with my Mom
Holly and the other Papillons in the house, gave me a job. She told me
the reason I was staying at home was because of my superior looks and
peppy personality. Sue would look at me for hours telling me I would
make her so proud in the show ring. Getting ready for shows is no easy
task for a budding beauty queen. Soon I was too busy to miss Gracie and
my brothers. I took to the beauty queen regime quickly. I of course,
have the perfect temperament for the job. Even today I spend my days
flaunting my good looks and making everyone who looks at me say, "Oh,
she is soooooooooo cute!" I learned to prance around as if I owned the
world and put off an attitude that said, "Hey everyone, eyes on me - I
am the rock of the Papillon - look no further, perfection has just
looked you in the face." Now, don't be thinking I am 'stuck up' or
anything like that. True beauty lies in the dog who knows they have it
all and is very sweet, gentle, and tender hearted to boot! Sue took me
to a lot of beauty pageants where I did what I do best; I pranced into
the room and when the judge looked at me, I would throw my head back in
a manner learned from watching Marilyn Monroe on the TV screen and
transmit the thought -"Look no further, stop the show, and hand over the
blue ribbon." I was so darn cute I am sure my career would have gone on
forever but nature was against me. It seems humans have some really
silly rules for these furry fashion shows and babes like me in the show
ring could not be above a very specific height. Now I could understand
then excusing a horribly overweight Papillon from the ring but 1/4 of an
inch too tall? Now who made those standards and rules? Why, I watched
the Miss America contest on TV and some of those gals looked pretty darn
tall. So what is the problem here, I still have no clue. If you all
think as I do, and looking at my pictures think they made one big
mistake, feel free to write to the Director of the AKC (American Kennel
Club) and demand they raise their standards!
    
I don't remember the exact date Sue came to me and
told me I would be moving to Ohio to be with Gracie but since I hadn't
any success getting the Board of the AKC to raise their standards, I was
pretty excited I would be joining Gracie at 4 Paws. I had been looking
at the many cool pictures Gracie sent to Sue by email and had seen all
the pictures of the neat things she got to do and thought also that Ohio
could use a good looking gal like me to brighten up the state. I have to
admit, at first I hoped that perhaps Ohio had more lenient standards for
height in their beauty pageants but no, it was just not meant to be.
When I arrived at 4 Paws, Gracie was there to meet me and we played and
played as if we had never been apart. Karen was especially excited to
see me. She said I would bring a whole new generation of service dogs to
4 Paws, something about working dogs in pint sized bodies. At first I
thought that meant I would have to go into their doggie college and
graduate as a service dog but soon I met Skittles, a little Tri-color
Papillon belonging to 4 Paws and it all made sense. It seems that an
arranged marriage was in the works and that one day Skittles and I would
start a family and our pups would grow up to make 4 Paws proud. Not that
Skittles would have much to do with the proud part, after all, they
should all get my good looks and brains. These things dominate in gene
selection - You know survival of the fittest. Skittle is a bit scattered
minded and quite a busy boy, some days I think he has ADHD. I know all
about that, we see a lot of ADHD here at 4 Paws since some of the kids
who come to training have similar issues. Skittles and them have a lot
in common.
Today I run Pink Girlz, Inc. with Gracie. I let her
talk me into helping her start the Pink Girlz Security Services, Inc.
but I have to admit, I am more of an office gal. I do not favor getting
down and dirty guarding some smelly, half chewed nylabone. I would
rather drag everything I find to our office to watch over. Personally, I
wonder how Gracie managed to get the Security Service off the ground.
Between the two of us we have managed to finger and make off with loads
of treats, dog balls, and toys. Gracie loves to steal the green stuff
humans never seem to have enough of and hide it in our playpen. Once we
made off with a cell phone but when it started ringing, we had no way to
know how to shut the thing off so we were sort of caught red pawed on
that one. The humans in our life have learned to know if it is on the
ground it is fair game and if anything is missing to search our rooms
before starting to panic. I have allowed Karen to think I perform on
command but really I just like to keep up with my beauty queen skills.
If asked "Are you Cute" I will always throw my head back and exclaim,
"but of course" and I definitely have a knack for tapping humans with my
foot and then doing a sort of flirtatious dance which gets them to give
me a good belly rub and ooohhha and aaaawwww over me any day! Welcome to
4 Paws and our Pink Girlz web site. This is just a bit about who I am,
my pictures on this web site will tell it all. AKC, eat your heart out -
I don't hold any grudges, really I know you had to lower your standards
to exclude me or no other Papillon would have a chance at all of getting
that blue ribbon.
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