Meet Pierce County’s cutest dog: Pippin, a 5-year-old mischievous English springer spaniel
We searched high and low to find Pierce County’s cutest dog and after several rounds of votes we have found the winner of our competition.
Pippin, an English springer spaniel, won the hearts of the voters and received a total of 3,604 votes, beating out the runner-up of the competition, Chewy a 2-year-old beagle from Steilacoom, by 1,812 votes in the final round.
Pippin, who is from Puyallup, is officially the cutest dog in Pierce County.
Meet Pippin, Pierce County’s cutest dog
At first glance, it is easy to see that Pippin is high energy and the friendliest pup and gives off puppy-like behavior. But he’s not a puppy, he is 5 years old and weighs 70 pounds, which is pretty heavy for his breed.
His weight, and strength, combined with his excitement make it difficult for his little human, 7-year-old Lily Curfman, to keep control of him while on a walk. Nonetheless, she follows behind him laughing and smiling.
Jolyn Curfman and her family adopted Pippin two years ago after she came across a Facebook post from an English springer spaniel breeding and rescue page that was looking to re-home him.
Curfman said she jokingly asked her husband if they could adopt him and was surprised when he agreed because he wasn’t interested in getting another dog after his dog named Misha died in 2017 at 19 years old.
“She was a husky and Australian shepherd mix, and she would always do this thing with her ears, like one would be flopped over and the other would be perked up and it was really cute,” Curfman said. “She passed away in 2017 so my husband, for a while didn’t want to get another dog, and it was kind of like needing a break from a dog for a while.”
Curfman contacted the organization about adopting Pippin and told her that although she was the first to inquire about adopting him, more people were interested in adopting him so she’d need to move fast if she wanted him. Curfman and her family made their way to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho just four days later to meet Pippin.
Curfman grew up with an English springer spaniel who she adored dearly and had always thought about getting another one for her family. She said she only had to spend a few minutes to know that Pippin was the family for her family.
“I was a little surprised when we first saw him, because he’s much bigger than most springer spaniels, like, he’s huge compared to a lot of them and we were expecting a much smaller dog,” Curfman said. “But then as soon as I got to pet him and met him, I was like ‘I love him, I want to take him home’.”
Curfman and her two daughters, Lily and Brynna, said Pippin has brought their family so much joy.
“He brings us so much joy, and he’s so funny, the things he does, his personality, he just makes the girls happy, he makes us happy and he’s just so fun to be around,” Curfman said.
Before Pippin joined Curfman’s family, his name was Atlas, but Curfman didn’t think that name was fitting, so she decided to change it. She said she that as a longtime “Lord of the Rings” fan, she always thought that Pippin would make for a cute dog name.
“We’re both huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans, so we’re, like, we got a name and Pippin, and he really lives up to his name,” Curfman said. “Pippin in ‘Lord of the Rings’ gets into trouble a lot, and he loves to eat. He’s always talking about second breakfast and our Pippin is totally that way. He’s very food motivated and likes food all the time.”
Brynna, Curfman’s 12-year-old daughter, said Pippin once ate two individual sized frozen pizzas that were left out on the counter and they only noticed because he had tomato sauce all over his face. She added that his top two favorite foods are bananas and cheese, which “he would probably eat together.”
Curfman shared that something that makes Pippin so funny is that he has a cat-like behavior and enjoys chasing a laser throughout the entire house, an activity that helps get a lot of his energy out.
Pippin also enjoys going on walks, going to the park and even playing keep away, which is when he pretends that he is sitting and waiting for someone to approach him but then “he darts off at the last second,” Curfman said.
Pippin is the only pet in his home, but he loves to be around his human family, even cuddling up close to them on the couch any chance he gets.
This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 2:35 PM.
