RIP Griffin

Born September 1, 1993

He was a great companion to Wayne and we will miss him.  I got Griffin from the SPCA in Clearwater, FL in 1994. I was going to school, working and teaching at the time so Wayne was home alone. When I was home, I was closeted in the computer room working on homework.

I got the brilliant idea to get him a dog to keep him company. The SPCA had a lot of dogs to look at, but the small dog named "Scruffy" caught my eye. They let me take the dog outside...I sat on the ground while he licked my face.

I had to wait a few days while they did surgery (no puppies for him). At that time I was working in a walk-in clinic up in Clearwater. During my lunch hour I went to pick up "Scruffy" and took him to a co-worker's home to keep until I got off work.

I'll never forget taking him home. I had him on a leash when I walked into the house. Wayne was standing in the living room and spotted the dog. He said "what have you done?" I let the dog off leash and he literally went running over to Wayne, sat down in front of him and rolled onto his back. Total submission. Wayne knelt down and said to the dog "do you want to live here with me?" And THAT was the beginning of a loving bond between a man and his dog.  

We couldn't decide on a name....Scruffy just didn't cut it for us. I took the dog to the vet within a couple of days of bringing him home.  The front desk lady asked, "and what is his name?"  I laughed and told her I'd have one by the time I left.

Sitting there waiting for the doctor I looked at the dog and thought...what can I name you? The vet came in and put the dog on the exam table. "So who is this?" she asked... and from out of nowhere I blurted out "Griffin."

Where the heck did that come from?  I have NO IDEA.  Really. When I got home I looked up the word Griffin in the dictionary (yeah we had one) and it read:

The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

PERFECT!  With his fawn color, he looked like a little lion... the eagle part... not so much.

We miss you Griffin. We gave you a good life and you gave us a lot of great memories.