Greer Griffith, ASPCA Manager of Animal Assisted Therapy/Activities

My website or blog:

http://www.aspca.org

Proud pet parent of:

1) Clayton, an extraordinary 12 year old black Labrador Retriever and Delta Society Therapy Dog.
He is very sensitive, distinguished, gentle, always hungry, loves swimming only second to eating and is always by my side.
He originally studied to be a Guide Dog, but had a medical release due to ear infections.
He has worked as a therapy dog since he was two. Clayton worked disaster relief after
the 911 terrorist attacks. He worked with some of the children that had lost their parents, firemen
that needed comfort and a moment to pet a loving animal, he was on the ferry that took families to the site where their loved ones died and he was a great comfort to me when we were evacuated from our apartment that was less that a block away from ground zero. Clayton has worked
with children and adults with disabilities and is
presently working at New Alternatives for Children in NYC and at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
as part of the Angel on a Leash therapy dog program, A charity of The Westminster Kennel Club.
2) Fauna is a fun loving and gentle 11 year old black Labrador Retriever with a great sense of humor. She too is a Delta Society Therapy dog and works
at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in the Angel on a Leash program.
3) Snip is a tuxedo cat that controls our household.
We all have great respect for her.

How we met:

Clayton and Fauna were introduced to me at Guiding Eyes for the Blind. They were both release dogs that I was fortunate enough to adopt.

Snip came into my life quite by chance. A woman that was taking care of my horses (that have since died) decided she needed a barn cat. She brought
Snip home. Snip was all of eight weeks old and
never made it to the barn...

Pet likes:

Clayton loves to eat and swim, Fauna loves to eat and chase sticks
and Snip enjoys tormenting Clayton and Fauna.

Pet dislikes:

Clayton does not like it when the oven is being used. One evening my smoke alarm went off because of something burning in the oven and he now associates any use of the oven with the sound of the smoke alarm.
Fauna is right there beside him...if Clayton does not like it, well it must be awful!
Snip hates fireworks that often go off outside of our window.

Pet’s favorite spot:

Clayton, Fauna and Snip all like to be on my bed.

Pet’s favorite toy:

Clayton likes balls, Fauna likes sticks and Snip likes
my earrings.

Pet’s silliest habit:

Clayton is much too distinguished to have a silly habit.
Fauna is a complete goof...she chases her tail,
bellies up and has the cutest way of tilting her head when she is trying to understand something.
Snip likes to watch TV.

Pet’s sweetest moments:

With both Clayton and Fauna, the moments that touch me the most are when I witness their extreme sensitivity to people in pain, be it emotional or physical.

Snip's sweetest moments are when she is sleeping.