Piper is a 1-and-a-half-year-old female Standard Goldendoodle who lives with her daddy, Paul Elfner, on Valley Road. Other pups pictured in this article are Piper's extended fur family — cousins Pete, Frank, and Winnie. 

Where/why did you get your pets? 

I got Piper from Sadie’s Doodles in Gap, PA. The reason for me adopting Piper is I have always wanted a Goldendoodle from the first time I laid eyes on one. A family member of mine has a Goldendoodle, which I fell in love with several years ago. I love the breed’s intelligence and playful yet kind energy. I also like the fact they do not really shed. One of the reasons I got a standard size dog was my family always had Bichons growing up, so I wanted a
big dog for once, although Piper still thinks she is a small pup!

Is there a story behind her name? 

"Piper" was actually the name the breeder gave her, and I liked it, so I stuck with it! My family calls her “Hyper Piper."

As I am sure some of the School Lane neighbors can attest to, Piper is enamored with people and loves attention. I take Piper on walks at least twice daily, and if we see someone walking, she hopes they will stop and pet her. Piper will sometimes just sit and wait (and stare) as people walk by with the hopes they will pet her. Another interesting bit is on car rides, Piper will sit upright in the front seat of the car like a human.

The thing I like most about Piper is how she is always happy to see me and can put a smile on anyone’s face. She is also well-behaved, which makes her a great dog around the house.

When Piper was growing up, she was scared of certain areas in the house, and I think it has to do with different floor types and the color change between them. It took her about eight months to be able to enter every room in the house after a lot of coaxing. She would stand in her “safe place” and observe but would not come into the room with the different flooring. To that effect, she would not do stairs for the longest time. Each and every night, I’d have to pick her up and carry her up the stairs. Let’s just say it started to get more challenging as she grew!

Piper loves toys/balls and is fascinated by squeakers! Whenever she gets a new stuffed toy with a squeaker inside, her focus immediately turns into ripping apart the toy and getting the squeaker out to silence it!