About Gryffin

Gryffin is a 40 pound female blue-eyed Chow - Husky - AmStaff mix rescue whom we adopted on March 6, 2020, at 8 weeks old along with one of her female littermates. Gryffin and Gage came into our family of 2 adult women, teen boy & girl, a 1 yr old Australian Shepherd, and 3 cats. From day 1, Gryffin seemed aggressive toward Katsi. We chalked it up to nerves, but within a couple days, Gryffin began showing signs of parvo. She tested positive and the vet provided meds and fluids for home care. We are currently dealing with sibling rivalry among all 3 dogs, and despite our best efforts, we believe the best option for all the dogs to live their best life is for Gryffin to find a new home. The fighting has been disruptive on our household, and we have had Katsi separated from the other two by putting up gates in the house for over a year. Gage and Gryffin are clearly bonded, and it seemed Gryffin just did not like the hyper behavior of the Aussie. The vet's office visits were the only real outing the pups had due to the covid-19 pandemic. The pups were not socialized at all as a result of the lockdowns that began just a week after we brought them home. Gryffin has always displayed strong signs of anxiety: hiding under the table when a package is brought in; very needy - wanting to be held or at least touched; acting suspicious of what Katsi might be doing down the hall on the other side of the gate. We decided to have DNA tests done on both pups, mostly out of curiosity, but also to gain some insight on what may be influencing their behavior. The Chow characteristics are pretty strong with Gryffin, as she tends to be aloof and serious. Gryffin is happy to chew on a benebone and rarely wants to play ball or tug. She likes to be touched and held - when she wants to be. Otherwise, she wants to be left alone. We took Gryffin to a trainer about a year ago. The trainer offered advice, such as using a slip-lead to maintain control and give correction. He also advised that any change in this difficult breed combination would require the utmost dedication and commitment from every member of the household. We did implement some of his suggestions as far as taking a stronger, firmer 'be the master' approach. It backfired. It made Gryffin more anxious, which led to more aggressive behavior. When we went back to a calm redirect approach whenever we noticed her fixating, that was much more effective at producing the results we wanted. During the day when one of the adults is home, Gryffin is tethered to the kitchen table, which is the center of activity in the home. We have found that limiting her freedom of movement has helped with her anxiety. She has a bed under the table and access to the water dish. Outside, the dogs have a fenced yard with enough space to run, and Gage and Gryffin both enjoy being outside together. Recently Gryffin and Gage are challenging each other and the situation has been overwhelming. We suspect that Gryffin's bond with Gage is so strong, that she cannot gain confidence as long as she depends on Gage and one of her people to comfort her, even as she demands to be dominant over Gage. We believe Gryffin may do better and have a happier life as the only pet in a home with owners who are experienced in caring for a highly anxious Chow. We do not know how she would be with other dogs outside our household, and she hasn't met other people outside our household and the vet's office.

Herkimer County
Frankfort, New York