[MemphisHusky]

I've been a long time lurker on here. I originally found this forum after my previous dog had passed. She was a husky rescue (though I believe she might have been malamute/husky mix as she was larger than any husky I’ve seen). She died unexpectedly in 2009. I still miss her dearly.

Anyway, after about 18 months of waiting, last spring we felt we were ready for another dog and got a new puppy. We debated on various breeds. I even originally sought out advice here. We considered rescue again, but selfishly and with little kids in the house, I wanted a bit more of a "guarantee" of the breed personality and quality of life/healthiness of the pup. So with much research and many deliberations, we got a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Meet Truffle. Here are a couple pictures from the day she came home at 12 weeks old.

And now here is Truffle at 1 yr. old.

Let me just say, the 1st year has had its ups and downs. I forgot what it was like to have a high energy puppy in the house. Needless to say, I'm not sure I was totally prepared. She is slowly starting to settle down, although still a bit more excitable around the kids than I would prefer.

Not sure how often I’ll post (I’ll definitely continue to lurk), but I've not seen any WPG pictures on here, so I thought I’d share.

 

[odiesmom]

Beautiful dog, love that face !!!

 

[+two]

!!!!!!!! Ah! I love her. I have been stalking Griffon sites for quite a bit now and met my first one this year. She is beautiful!

Please continue to post more pictures of her and I'd love to hear stories. I hear they can be quite the clowns.

I think one other member has a Griffon, named Luke. Hopefully she'll see this thread!

 

[hamandeggs]

AHHHH A GRIFFON! I love griffs! Count me as a griff person too! My parents have one, Monty is about 9 years old now and was my first and only family dog. Griffs are the absolute best dogs. Truffle is gorgeous and I love that name - so perfect.

I think Monty settled down significantly around age 2. He's still a high energy dog who needs several miles of walking every day - which at age 9, I think is a good thing! He's a clown for sure. Griffs are VERY smart - Monty has been very amenable to clicker training, and he seems to understand what you're saying to him. My grandma says it's like having a person around. I would work on training some fun tricks!

Does Truffle like to carry her toys around gently in her mouth?

 

[MemphisHusky]

I've considered the clicker training, but not sure at this point if its too late and I'm too far down the road to back track. She is very smart, picks up things fast. She does have a soft-mouth. She loves playing fetch with her kong-wubba. She's a 4 legged vacuum cleaner outside - grazes like a cow, divours sticks, will even chew on rocks, just about anything she can get in her mouth. But she is smart enough to know not to touch anything inside the house that isn't in her toybox. Nylabones are no match for her. Elk antlers hold up pretty well. I also swear she is part kangaroo. I have nose prints on our back door 6 feet off the ground. She jumps straight up to see over the couch to see if anyone is inside to let her in.

Our only lingering issue has been she can sometimes be a submissive pee'r. She understands the house training and doesn't have accidents, but when ever she gets too excited to see she will tend to dribble a bit.

Other than that, I just can't wait for adolescence to end.

 

[Amaryllis]

You can start clicker training any time you want. I'd say give it a try.

She is a beautiful dog. I've never seen a Griffon in real life, just on this board.

 

[hamandeggs]

Agree, it's never too late to start clicker training.

I remember Monty being quite a handful when he was an adolescent, too. He went through a prolonged hump-and-jump phase. It will pass...eventually!

I just love Griffs. There's something about those eyes. And you have to love their zest for life!

 

[Abbylynn]

What an absolutely beautiful dog! I hope to see more pictures in the near future.

 

[Selah Cowgirl]

Hi, just now seeing this, I don't post here very often and lurk even less, but I thought I would go ahead a bump this topic for the sake of saying the Griffs are a breed of their own. Griffs are super high energy and you are lucky to have found one that is calming dog at a year old! Truffle is a great looking girl, what kennel did she come out of, you can send me a message if you think it more appropriate.

As for the chewing (or if she is anything like Luke, just carting around things in her mouth) Lots of chew toys, hard toys and kongs are what Luke loves best, antlers and bones as well. I would be concerned about the rocks knocking around her teeth. The peeing could be some UTI issues, have you had a talk with your vet around this? That would be something to think about.

Have you thought about giving her a job to engage her mind a bit more? Start hiding her toys around and letting her hunt for them, they can be pretty frustrated if not allowed to work hard once in a while. I bet if you started this game she would become quickly addicted to it.

There is a great breed group on facebook called "you might be a griff person if" lots of breeders, a vet or two and about 400 owners. Some are hunters and all love their griffs.

 

[jenneses]

Wow, what a gorgeous dogs. I don't think I've really seen one before. I love the hair/fur on his head!

 

[Miss Bugs]

gorgous dog! I never really knew much about them, but we have 2 hunting Griffs that come to the kennel when they are in town and I fell totally in love with the breed at first meet, they remind me of GSP's minus the bad points lol

 

[hamandeggs]

gorgous dog! I never really knew much about them, but we have 2 hunting Griffs that come to the kennel when they are in town and I fell totally in love with the breed at first meet, they remind me of GSP's minus the bad points lol

That's a good way of putting it!

 

[Bear2010]

Beautiful! Love the beard!

 

[MemphisHusky]

sent you a PM Selah_Cowgirl.

Thanks for all the kind words about Truffle.

I've had many dicussions with the vet about the submissive peeing and i really think its just a training issue and her being a very excitable puppy. She hasn't had any dribbles in a while now, so i hope its on its way out. We are overly cautious and we give her plenty of time outside before we do any thing that would have triggered this dribbling in the past.

She loves games, we hide stuff all the time. She knows her toys by name and can "go get your kong" anywhere in the house/yard and will even remember where she left it the day before.

I'm not a facebook type, but maybe i'll check out that site, thanks for the info.

She's now 18 months old. I hear 3-4 yrs old is when they really come into their own, so we are halfway there