GRIFF AT HOME FOR THE HOWLIDAYS 9 & 12 DECEMBER 2009
On 13 December, Barbara writes: I can't wait to see Griff's take on the Christmas tree; I will take pictures of that.
He is a little shy with Claire; she just wants to love him. so [he] hides in his crate. According to Claire, Griff is "2 Sh-pice" or "Biff!" . . . at two years of age, words don't always come out the way she hears them. Here is Claire, walking her Sh-pice & my Spice, back in 2008.
Griff is doing well on lead. He prances along beside Spice like a little show pony. Too cute. He is doing very well, although he did just pee on the floor and part of Spice's favourite bed. I guess I wasn't paying attention to his movements. It's the first [time,] and he finished the job outside. Good thing I am doing the laundry. One more load.
He likes me to come outside with him and come off the deck so he can show me that, yes, he is a big boy and does his jobs outside. I no longer have the long lead on him, as he is feeling comfortable enough to come in the house on his own. Sometimes he takes a bit to make up his mind and we wait, then he comes in as if to say he was testing us. He loves to help me with my knitting and takes the wool to work on in his crate. Needless to say, Claire's Christmas sweater will not be finished in time, with this kind of "help".
He & Spice are starting to play tug. She is so happy about this; besides chasing squirrels this is her favourite thing. Unfortunately she will start to growl out of excitement and Griff doesn't understand and drops his end of the toy and runs. They are doing lots of play bows to each other and running figure eights in the yard. Spice is in her glory when she can beat him around the table. For an eight-year-old girl, she is pretty fast.
I thought I would start getting him used to dressing up, so tried to do some Christmas pictures to send out. He did rather well; it won't be the last time he will wear a hat or scarf. So much that I could write about him. For a kennel dog he is handling being in the house with great panache. We adore him.

GRIFF IN THE SUMMER HERE