Mr Kadiddlehopper*

Clem (originally Flying Clemenza) has come back to SEGA to find a new home.


Clem (left) and Silver (right)

He was adopted to a home in June 2012, but his former owner's job has changed and now requires extensive traveling. Clem and Here's Why came back to SEGA this week.

Clem is part of a Godfather litter. His littermates (5 girls and another boy) are all named after capos in the Godfather. Flying Corleone and Clem are the boys (Peter Clemenza was the spaghetti-cooking capo in the movie--"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."); Flying Barsini, Brasi, Puzo, Rizzi, and Tessio are the girls. Flying Penske--a formidable racing champion--and Flying Myrna were the sire and dam. Clem had a long racing career at several tracks: Naples-Fort Myers, Pensacola, and Flagler. His racing statistics are split between a couple of sites, so I'll have to compile the stats to see what his final record was. But you can see him in action--and winning--in a March 2009 race at Naples here.



That lovely black and gold collar came with him from his former mom.

Clem's former mom said he's clingy. Mr Glad Wrap will devotedly follow you from room to room. He's learning to wait in the dining room when I'm in the kitchen, but he'd rather be in the kitchen with me. He's not too bad when I'm cooking people food, but he's spring-loaded to respond to the sound of kibble. I'll back him up to an empty bed, go back in the kitchen, start to scoop out a half-cup of kibble, and turn to find he's been sucked back into the kitchen by the sound. It's instant: you don't see him get up from his bed or move his feet. Just--schwoop! There he is.

He's not shy. On a walk this afternoon, he met a neighbor who petted him. He leaned into her, she sat down on the driveway, and he stood over her, tucked his head down, and leaned on her while she petted him. (She likes him a lot.) It doesn't take him time to warm up to people.

He's a bit of a puller on the leash if he's interested in something and he doesn't hesitate to change lanes when he's walking in front of you. We're going to work on that. And I still need to see how he does on stairs and find out if he's okay with thunder. (There are storms in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon.)

*Clem Kadiddlehopper was a character created by Red Skelton for his comedy sketches. The character was based on a hard-of-hearing neighbor of Skelton's. Four-footed Clem is only hard of hearing when you're scooping kibble while telling him to stay out of the kitchen.