Papillons

My wife can be very decisive. "I've decided that the best breed for me is Papillons," she announced. We were thinking about buying a dog and Kathy had studied a lot about various breeds before arriving at her decision. This decision was final. We have owned about ten Papilllons over the last 25 years and one Sheltie. I've never regretted it. I've come to love Papillons. Our dog was a rescue from a breeded, undersized and fragile, but very spunky. His name was Shasta.

Papillons are one of the smartest breeds of dog. They don't have the superb tracking instincts of hounds or the amazing herding instincts of Border Collies, but they communicate well with humans and are one of the top breeds in agility competition. Wysiwyg is our current Papillon, and he is one of the smartest. Not having children in our house, we talk to him incessantly and we are convinced he understands at least half of it. My favorite greeting is "What's on your doggie mind?' And of course Whizzy does not answer, but he immediately engages. From there I can say, "You want to go see Mom?" (at the nursing home) "You want to go outside?" "You want to go to bed?"