Name: Piper - 3 y/o
How long has Piper been in the family? She was with me for our 2-week trial visit from June 3, 2016 through June 17, 2016. She was officially adopted on June 17, 2016. So March 2017, makes 9 amazing months.
Family Members: Carla & Helen (Carla's mother and Piper's grandmother)
Professions: Sr. System Analyst for a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research & rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine & chronic pain & other neuromuscular conditions.
Helen, her grandmother, is retired.
Location: Lawrenceville, GA
Nicknames: Pipes. Velvet Princess, Mama
5 of the best words/phrases to describe Piper:
- Very Smart
- Energetic
- Friendly
- Love Bug
- Snuggle Bug
What makes Piper unique? She LOVES watching DogTV and will perk up and whine when I watch anything “dog” on my laptop. It’s so funny to watch.
She is obsessed with balls and playing fetch – REALLY obsessed.
She wants to eat or chew all of her toys. She has a ‘teaser’ ball that she’s supposed to roll around but she chews on it, instead.
She will go after and try to catch anything that flies near her – especially carpenter bees.
There is a slit in her right ear. This is definitely a conversation starter when we’re out. People always wonder how it happened.
Serious "ups" with this pup!
Piper taking a little break...
Rescue Story: On April 10, 2016, my other beautiful pit mix, Coco, passed away. She and I were together 10 years. I was devastated, so overwhelmed with sadness. In Alan Wolfelt’s book, “When Your Pet Dies: A Guide to Mourning, Remembering and Healing” he states the following about losing a pet, “You don’t get over it; you learn to live with it. You learn to integrate it into your life and into the fabric of your being.” I honestly didn’t know if there would ever come a day when I would be able to live with the grief and I didn’t think I would be ready to adopt again, for at least one year. One day I started to look at dogs online to see what type of reaction I would have. When I adopted, again, I wanted to make sure I was ready to love wholly, again – that I was ready to give and receive love, again. I wasn’t getting that hopeful, happy feeling while searching until one day I came across Piper’s profile on petfinder.com. After going back to her profile a few times a day for probably 3 or 4 days. I decided I was ready to adopt, again.
For reasons unknown, on July 2015, Piper came to be with Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement. In September 2015, she was pulled from GC Animal Control by the amazing BullsEye Rescue, Inc. of Atlanta.
Around the end of May 2016, I submitted my application to BullsEye Rescue to adopt Piper … it was approved. YAAAAY!! The one-on-one greeting Piper and I had went very well, as well as our 2-week trial visit, which, I knew going in was going to go well ... hahahaha! When Piper left BullsEye Rescue to rescue me, I knew we were a match made 'from' heaven. This was confirmed as the days went by. I have an illness that requires I get a lot of rest. When Coco was with me, she would allow me to sleep as long as I needed in the morning. She didn't require that I get up early to take her out ... Piper is the same way.
The day it was made official!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Only one? Oh my goodness. Well, since I have to choose, I’ll say when it’s chill time/snuggle time. When Piper and I are on the couch and she has her head on my arm. Try to picture the left side of her head on the top part of my right arm and rest of her body stretched out. Almost like an allen wrench … hahaha! This must be very comfortable for her because she sleeps and snores in that position. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. This is when those neurochemicals of love are released.
What is life like since you rescued Piper? Life has been amazing. Life is better with a dog, right? <smile> Well, I went from parenting and loving a dog who had anxiety issues, wasn’t very sociable and did well around other dogs (Coco was rescued in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina) to parenting and loving a dog who isn’t afraid of anything, is extremely sociable and I have to use caution when around other dogs. Coco was a snuggle bug and Piper is, as well. I believe it’s a pittie thing, which is so awesome. Piper was with a foster father before I adopted her where she was loved and cared for. Her transition after being adopted was extremely smooth. Like I stated earlier – we were a match made “from” heaven. Her energy level definitely keeps me on my toes – keeps me moving and I am loving every second, every minute of my time with Piper.
Photographers Note: First thing I will say is there are definite advantages of taking photos of a pup whose Mom is a photographer as well, cause wow can this girl pose! Not to mention, I loved that Carla made a comment about the evening light when we scheduled this session in the evening and boy was she right. Very little editing went into these photos because the lighting was so perfect.
This was such a fun shoot for me, because of course we have Piper the adorable pibble who got to show off her Flirt Pole skills and is quite an athletic girl (which is why I had to have two photos above to showcase that) and the shots of her huge mouth open like a shark, just cracked me up. (check out the outtakes on our Instagram account). There is of course the challenge for the photographer to be able to capture that activity clearly as her movements are very unpredictable with the pole. Then on top of that, I got to spend a nice evening with these two wonderful women. We chatted and laughed, talked about dogs, it was just lovely. Such a wonderful family and you can see how much Piper loves these two women.