Bob Stewart - Gryphon

Avalon's Gryphon of Ard Righ was born August 20th, 1996. He came from North Carolina to live with me on November, 20th 1996 at the age of 13 weeks. He weighed 44 pounds and came by air. He was in transit for over 5 hours and arrived clean, dry, and happy.

He grew to be just under 30 inches tall at the shoulder and about 175 pounds, slightly on the small side for a male mastiff, although he sure didn't look small. He was a most handsome fellow and was strongly attached to me, both of which turned out to be blessing and curse.

My major goals for Gryphon were companion, therapy dog, and perhaps an obedience title. That was not to be. Right from early in his socialization he didn't like people coming up to him, although he was willing to go inspect them. At 6 months old (and about 100 pounds) he found he could scare them off by barking. Despite neutering and considerable continued obedience training, socialization, and some specialized attention training he only became more and more suspicious of strangers, sometimes cowering and sometimes barking, lunging, or even snapping.

I'm convinced, with the agreement of many mastiff people, that his temperament was genetically defective. Others, including his breeder, differ.

Although I had to be very careful with him around strangers, Gryphon traveled with us. Here he is on a schooner in Maine.

After two trips with us to Florida it finally became clear to me, on a trip to Alaska, that his paranoia of strangers was making him a prisoner in our motorhome and I wasn't being fair to him making him eat and walk always nervous in strange places.

Halfway across Canada, between Michigan and Alaska I contacted some well-known and respected members of the Mastiff Club of America who live in Alaska and helped me find an experienced mastiff owner who could let Gryphon live at home and not travel. I gave him to a new owner to allow him a a happier, more limited life.

He settled in well with his new owner, becoming very attached to the man. Unfortunately he continued in his paranoia. After several incidents of snapping and lunging at visitors and even some family members the new owner, fearing that Gryphon would seriously injure someone, had him put down.

In appearance Gryphon could have been a show winner. He had the looks, but his temperament would not allow it. His looks drew attention that he didn't want.

As to health, he had some problems. His hips and elbows failed OFA testing, meaning he was subject to joint problems all too common in pedigreed dogs. He had a minor eye defect that made him unable to pass CERF testing. He tested "elevated" for cystinuria levels. These are all genetic problems.

He tore both his anterior cruciate ligaments, requiring two expensive knee operations. What he got is called TPLO and was very effective.

Despite these problems he appeared and acted normal and healthy, happilly running up and down hills in our woods and getting muddy in our brook. Other than the temporary problems with his knees and the operations, when strangers weren't around he had a good dog life.

So this is the sad end to a story that was lived much in the sight of the mastiff community on the Internet. I recite it so those who care can know what happened and perhaps so others can learn from it. If you seek a mastiff, or any kind of dog, there is no way to be sure exactly what you'll get. The best you can and must do is get to know the breeder and the dog's line through everyone you can find, not just the breeder or any one organization.