Dr. Gryffin Padfoot is a young male black Labrador retriever who has been working with children who have developmental delay and/or autism spectrum disorder since he was 11 weeks old. He is one of a kind; the first canine to be trained in both therapy dog and service dog techniques to assist children with developmental delay and/or autism.
You may recognize his name from the Harry Potter series; Gryffin was named after Gryffindor and Sirius Black, the wizard who could turn himself into a black dog named Padfoot. We think he is pretty magical, and his name fits him well!
Gryffin is also being trained to detect the start of emotional dysregulation and will give an alert when a child begins to feel anxiety or stress. He is learning to provide comfort measures, such as sitting next to the child so they can stroke his fur or ears to calm themselves, giving the child a “hug,” and laying at the child’s feet or resting his head in the child’s lap. Gryffin is also trained to interact with children to enhance their prosocial skills by playing fetch, tug of war, hide and seek, puzzles, and chase. Gryffin loves to give high fives to children who meet therapy goals, and his favorite interactive activity is to fetch tennis balls or catch flying discs at the start of each session. Animal-Assisted Therapy sessions occur once weekly in 30-minute sessions for 8 total weeks. Children can re-enroll in the AAT program as often as needed to achieve their therapy goals.
What people are saying about Gryffin …
Every therapy should have a Gryffin! My kids are always excited to see him and he is just as excited to see them. He helps them feel comfortable and have fun. He seems to instinctively know when my kids want to burn off energy (which he is happy to help with) and when they need a furry friend to calmly sit with them. Sometimes kids are not enthusiastic about therapy, but they are always excited to work with Gryffin.
AAT participant parent
Gryffin is going to be so proud of me!
AAT participant
Gryffin is my favorite dog in the whole world! I love playing hide and seek with him!
AAT participant
Gryffin is an amazing therapy dog! It’s so awesome to see him take care of my child’s needs before me or anyone even realizes there is one! Every kid will benefit from this amazing dog! This program has been the best thing that ever happened to my son!
AAT participant parent
Please don’t take Gryffin back to Harry Potter!
AAT participant
Gryffin is the most loving, caring, protective and affectionate dog I’ve ever met. Gryffin has taught us how to have more patience and skills, and has helped us learn how to do tricks. We love Gryffin and so blessed we are able to have sessions with him.
AAT participant parent
