Two Videos: Puppies At Play, The Patience Of Job

My two Papillon pups, Daphne and Clover, were playing one morning and also unraveling my rug. They were being cute and, as you may notice, that poor rug has already been pretty much destroyed by other dogs and cats. So I just enjoyed the show:



In this second video, Daphne and Clover, who are 6 months old and 9 weeks old, were playing and using patient, gentle Seamus as a wrestling mat. Seamus is a 2 year old Standard Poodle weighing 119 pounds. His wonderful personality and patience are evident as he allows these tiny upstarts to bump up against him and use him as a playground. Alas, you can again see the torn carpeting which is the result of having so many dogs and cats.

I'm Ready For My Close-Up, Mr. DeMille

A friend came to visit the other day. She hadn't yet met little Clover or, for that matter, Daphne. She brought with her a basket of clover blossoms and we decided that it'd make a good occasion for a photo shoot for Clover. So here's the results of Clover's "publicity photos." When Hollywood comes calling, she'll be ready:

"This is my hopeful look:"

"My demure look:"

"My plaintive look:"

"My mischievous look:"

"My baby-face look:"

"My relaxed and sexy look:"

Introducing The New Puppy, Clover

If you've been a reader of this blog for a while, you've surely noticed by now that I am quite thrilled with my 6 month old Papillon pup, Daphne. She's perhaps the smartest, cuddliest and most athletic dog I've ever known and I've consequently been searching for another Papillon puppy. I found one in Pennsylvania, 6 hours away from Albany, with 20 champions in her pedigree. So I purchased her and drove to meet the seller half way, near Scranton, Pennsylvania to pick her up.

She is 8 weeks old and named Clover. I brought Daphne with me as company for both me and for the new puppy. It's also good socialization for Daphne. They made friends rather quickly and slept together on the seat next to me for most of the drive home. This is a photo of little Clover provided to me by her breeder:

When I arrived back at home, the next step was to let all the dogs out into the back yard to meet the new puppy:

Seamus is so gentle that he immediately liked little Clover. When he's lying down, she can climb on his head and play with his ears. After all, he's already used to such antics from Daphne:

The older dogs (Wren, Winky and Wally) were neither impressed nor offended. Another dog in the house is just normal life for them. Several of the cats, however, wanted an immediate introduction. This is Bramble checking out Clover, the new puppy:

Many of the dogs and cats crowded into my computer room to join the fun, but Clover and Daphne were mostly just wrestling and not paying much attention to anyone else:

Clover may be only 8 weeks old, but she is no shrinking violet. She wrestles with Daphne and often gets the best of her. If Daphne becomes too pushy, Clover gives her a loud bark and air snap. She is a girl who knows how to set limits:

Let the wrestling begin:

Rocky the cat wanted to be close to the action but not to get into it directly. So he pretended not to be paying attention while the puppies played:

And outside in the back yard, the Papillon buddies explored together. Both seem to be determined hunters of insects. Perhaps that's a Papillon trait:

Clover is quite taken with big ol' Seamus and likes to be with him (when Daphne allows it). You can tell in this picture that the older dogs just hang out by the back door and avoid the silly puppy games:

Clover, Daphne and Fergus - all young and playful:

Little Clover explores the world:

And Daphne encourages her to play:

I got a shot of myself holding both puppies:

Well, now you've met Clover, the new puppy. There's some blog posts scheduled in the next week or so which are about activities which actually happened before Daphne arrived, but soon enough you'll begin seeing her in the family adventures. I'll close this post with two videos of puppies at play: