Pile of Puppies

Pile of Puppies (POP) is an amazing charity started by Jennifer Thompson Trepanier. It brings joy to children in our communities that are medically fragile or battling chronic illness. Jennifer sets up home or hospital visits with children, their families and puppies! What's better than puppies to provide love and happiness and a way to escape the worries of the world for an hour? I personally can't think of anything!

I am very proud that we were the first litter of papillons to do a POP visit. Below is the story of each patient we have visited and some pictures taken during those visits.

As a breeder and volunteer I would encourage other breeders to get involved. A safe environment is provided for your puppies and you can supervise the entire visit. It is an amazing experience to share your puppies with families during a difficult time in their lives. It provides them so much joy and your puppies get an awesome socialization experience. Truly a win win for everyone!

Pile of Puppies is a 503 (c) (3) charity, which means all donations are completely tax deductible. Please consider a donation to them.

Click the butterfly below to visit POP's website. Learn more about them or make a donation.

Meet 18 year old Maddie! She is a true warrior as she is moving through her second diagnosis of cancer. She shared with us that it has been the power of true ...friendship and having an incredible family that has helped her move through cancer. She is witty and has a spark for life. Her passions are around human rights, freedom of expression, art, makeup and cancer awareness. We were thrilled to surround her with the most joyous Papillons we have ever met! (Written by POP)

This was a highlight of 2017, and I cannot wait for another opportunity to share again!

January 26th, 2018

Meet Lyla, a vivacious nine year old cheerleader who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Lyla and her families positive attitude is contagious. They are all lovers of dogs and couldn't wait to have a POP!

This was such a wonderful visit. Lyla is a courageous little girl, and I feel confident she's going to do amazing things in the future. One of them might even be owning a papillon :) We look forward to keeping in touch with her and her mom.

March 2nd, 2018

Sweet sweet vivacious three year old Claire has an inoperable brain tumor and today she was in sheer bliss! It was so beautiful to see her Nana and Mama bond with her over the cutest giggles. She was truly ecstatic to see these bouncing Papillons.

Claire was a lot of fun and completely enjoyed the puppies. Such a sweet little girl who about halfway through our visit started bringing her own toys into the pen to share with the puppies. They enjoyed her. Amber's jumping for a toy brought her the absolute biggest laughs.

2019-2023

I did one POP in 2019 but the family wanted to stay private, but we all enjoyed the time. The litter was Amber's 1st litter which was Halley, Hailey and Phineas.

With the panorama we were unable to do any Pile of Puppies visits. We didn't want to put any already fragile children and their families at risk. We did do one outside pop in the summer of 2021 using extreme caution. The family also wanted to remain private but they were entertained by Ember, Splash, Fritzi and of course Amber.

2024

In early 2024 we jumped back into doing Pile of Puppies. Our first two visits were for 2 children who were in hospice. How special to bring them a small amount of joy in a very dark time for their families. Both families chose to keep their sessions private, but below are some videos of the puppies. Our hearts go out to those families. I thank them for allowing us into their lives for a couple hours and send them our heart felt condolences for the loss of their beautiful children. Puppies who attended were Lulu, Ned, Snow and Bonnie. Click the images below to view the videos.

Visit # 1, Salem, OR in January

Visit # 2, McMinnville, OR in February

Visit #3, Portland, OR in February. This was a really fun POP. Daisy is a delightful teenager. She was preparing for what was hopefully going to be her final Chemo treatment. Each treatment involved at least 3 weeks inpatient if I remember correctly. Daisy and her friends forgot about chemo while we were there, happily playing with the puppies. Her mom and grandma also visited. Such a joy. Click on each of the butterflies below to watch the Pile of Puppies play day.

Visit #4, Portland, OR in December. We had the honor of sharing the Bee puppies with Jamie and his lovely Family. Jamie was in hospice, and here is what POP wrote in summary of his story.

At our last hospice POP of the year, we celebrated Jamie and all that he brought to his community. Jamie was a healthy, active teenager who had just turned 18. He worked full-time, was set to join the football team this year, and had been voted class president. He was excited about graduating high school, planning a trip to Costa Rica, and joining the Air Force. Jamie dreamed of flying drones and building houses. He is an adventurer and a lover of life.

Cancer came on quickly. Jamie made his own doctor's appointment and went alone after experiencing dizziness and frequent falls. In August, he was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer.

He and his family deserved a moment of joy. Jamie enjoyed being piled by adorable papillon puppies. He was quick to make sure his little siblings got piled too. It was so beautiful to watch his loving gaze as he watched his brother and sister giggle and feel all the "popcorn puppies" bounce all over them. Jamie was taking it all in and his parents had their first "pile of puppies" too.