Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

As a culture, we eat too much.  WAY TOO MUCH!!! I’m not pointing any fingers.  Maybe you think you eat the perfect amount. Hey, I would have said the same thing about myself until about six months ago. I was recently inspired to begin experimenting with the concept of “LESS” throughout many aspects of my life. I have improved my mindset and increased my strength and agility by breathing less. (I wrote about that in a different blog post.)  I have also increased my sensitivity and my enjoyment of life by slowing down the rate at which I walk.  (I was living in New York City, among some of the fastest walkers in the world, so it wasn’t easy. But it was totally worth it.) And I've increased my energy level and improved the look and feel of my body by reducing the amount that I ate. I focused on eating smaller meals and on not just reacting immediately to the hunger feeling.  But I found that living with the feeling of hunger for just a couple of hours made a ...

Today was the eighth day after River’s surgery.  The clinic nurse told me that I shouldn’t let him get wet while the wound was healing, but that after eight days I could finally bathe him.   And he needed it. When the shelter takes in a stray dog, they have a five day waiting period before they are officially documented and checked in.  During that waiting period, they get their basic shots, but no baths or surgeries or walks.  So River had the stink of whatever he had gotten himself into before being picked up, and then the kennel smell, and then eight more days of unbathed activity.  He was a stinky pup. So today was the day I was looking forward to.   Bath day.  I wasn’t sure how well he was going to behave or if he’d cooperate at all or if he was going to hate it. I decided, first to go outside without him and play with the bucket and the hose and the cloths.  I let him watch me from inside for a few minutes.  Then I went back inside, jus...

River has fully recovered from his respiratory infection and now is back to his good old self.   He's got a lot of energy. It’s obvious that he needs a lot of exercise.  If he doesn’t expend all the energy that’s coursing through his body, he becomes frustrated and takes it out on those around him.  Not in an unhappy or aggressive way, but he’ll jump and play and challenge you to a wrestling match.  He doesn’t bark, but he does sometimes use his mouth and play-bite.  He’s basically just a big, dopey guy.  And while his jumping doesn’t necessarily hurt me, it’s not a good practice and it could easily hurt someone smaller than me. Clearly this is not something you want a full grown, muscle-bound pit bull getting into the habit of, so the answer is to give him lots of exercise and to train him that using his mouth when playing with humans is not acceptable.  For the first week I had him, he was recovering from his neutering surgery and I was told he coul...

Last night after dinner, River took an unexpected turn.  He was sleeping a lot, which I attributed to him being kept active all day. And then, at one point, he raised his head and looked at me.  And I don’t know... I can’t explain how I knew, but he was trying to tell me he wasn’t doing well.  He seemed very lethargic and borderline delirious and he started to convulse. I would call them convulsions, but Zeke was saying no, that it was more like shivering and not full on convulsions or seizures.  But every few seconds, he would clench his whole body as if he were bracing against something. He did it most when he was laying down and relaxing.  If I put his leash on, he got up and stood at attention like he always does for his leash, although now a bit less enthusiastic. When I took him for a short walk, he perked right up. Not to his usually bouncy excited self, but to a state seemingly without discomfort and fully present in the world.  So we went back in ...