Thank you, douchebag, for being such an a-hole. If is wasn't for your heartless actions (plus the goodness of quick-acting citizens and an accommodating animal shelter), I would not have adopted the dog who turned into my best friend of over a decade.
Yes, it's true. Some degenerate actually left two five week old puppies on the Hanlon (a busy highway in Guelph). The story sparked enough outrage to merit a newspaper article, and people were actually queuing up to adopt the "Hanlon Puppies". Coincidentally (and completely oblivious of the story), I had decided to adopt a dog and happened to waltz into the Guelph Humane Society while the black and brindle pup was still available (the other puppy was yellow).
(Excuse the cruddy-quality photos. They were taken with *gasp* FILM)
Flash forward 11 years and my puppy and I are still BFFs. True, we're both a little (okay, a lot) stouter and creakier than we were, but still happy together. Adopting Gryphon is the absolute best thing I have ever done. He has taught me so much about life and myself, I feel that I can never repay him. Even as I type this, he is ignoring his cushy bed in order to snug up close to my computer chair on the floor.
Hang on while I put his bed next to me...
Much better.
Anyways, Gryphon's health is pretty good for his age, despite back legs that don't seem to want to work the way they should (a repaired cruciate ligament in his right knee five years ago is now taking all the weight in the back end as the other knee deteriorates with no option of surgery). He drags his back legs, wobbles and wambles like a bowlegged pirate when he is sore, but he NEVER wants to be left behind and is always wagging his tail.
We have lived in several cities in Gryphon's lifetime, but I always wanted to take him back to Guelph to visit all of his favorite puppyhood places. This summer, Nik (like the good guy he is) took us back home for the first time since 2003. I think Gryphon could have cared less WHERE he was, he was just so happy to be with us (without Bruin, even!), but I was simply ecstatic to be back in Guelph. It has changed a lot (in a good way) but most of my favorite places and landmarks are still intact.
Road trip? My favorite!
Checking out the view from the hotel balcony
Someone got his very own ice cream at The Boathouse
The covered bridge along the Speed River trail leads from The Boathouse Ice Cream Parlour...
...to our favorite swimming spot (we walked this trail daily when Gryph was a puppy)
Ahhhhhhh
We hit up the university campus (someone had already painted the cannon when we got there, darn!)
Gryphon blends in seamlessly with the abundant hippie population in Guelph
Namesake
We wanted to wander in the Arboretum, but discovered that Gryphon had sprung a leak from walking on the pavement all morning (when his back legs drag on concrete his nails grind down and bleed) so we just snapped a picture of the sign and took him back to the hotel
After a power nap and a foot wrap, he was good to go!
I made this collage once we got home with a picture of us taken on the trip, and a photo that had been taken the day Gryphon was adopted. Same park, same characters, 11 year span. Pretty freaking cool...
We look good for a couple of old farts, don't we?
