Information about Griff

Griff is a Labrador retriever Buddy Dog, 
provided to the pupils of Priestley Smith School by Guide Dogs for the Blind.   

Griff was removed from the advanced Guide Dog training programme because of his reluctance to wear the working harness.   He is much happier working as a friend and companion to the visually impaired pupils at Priestley Smith School.  

Paul and Jonquil Dodd, ( brood bitch holders for Griff's Mum,  Donna, who has since retired) sent us these photos. Griff was born on 29th June 2012 in their dining room.

Griff was number 6 of the litter, and in the photo above he is immediately to the left of the puppy doing a pawstand, with one red dot in the centre of his back.  The breeders mark the puppies as they are born, with nail varnish, so they can tell them apart. 

  Here he is at the top of the picture, lying on top of brother Scooby.

At seven weeks the pups move on to their puppy walkers.  
Griff's Puppy Walker,  Monica Fodor created a lovely photo album of Griff during his time with her and sent it to us.  The book shows Griff as he grows up.

The original album is kept in the Mobility Room.

Griff made several trial visits to Priestley Smith before joining us at school on 20th January 2014.  He is now 18months old,  fully grown,  but still a puppy in a lot of ways.

Griff travels to and from school by car.  He wears a harness that attaches to the safety belt to keep him and other passengers safe.

So,  what does Griff like to do?

Eating is his favourite activity!

He has two meals a day,  morning and evening of 150gm of dry dog food.  ( Royal Canin Adult maxi).

Unfortunately Griff has no self control,  he does not know when he should stop eating,  so the people around him need to act responsibly to prevent him becoming overweight.

He gets occasional treats to encourage him to do things,  like accept his harness, but too many treats will make him fat.  He has water available all the time.

Free running is his next favourite!

He needs to go on regular walks to keep fit and to prevent boredom.  He will walk miles on the lead,  but loves the opportunity to free run in a safe environment.

Playing

It is important to offer dogs the chance to play.  Griff has a variety of toys at home and school to keep him occupied when people are busy.  He like games of tug,  but if no one is available to play  he enjoys squeaky toys.

Mrs Glynn has bought him a new sqeaky squirrel.

Margaret Hyslop has sent us a lovely recent picture of Griff's Mum Donna.  Donna is happily retired with Margaret

Learn more about Guide dogs, Buddy Dogs and  puppy walking   Guide Dogs Website