The dog we adopted was called Swazee when he was with NLBR but has since been rechristened Gryff.
We adopted Gryff back in 2012 and he is still alive. He will be 10 years old in October.
Over the years, Gryff has had some minor medical issues. He has some allergies and ear infections that are treated with antibiotics and ear drops periodically. He also had a surgery to remove a snaggle tooth. Otherwise, he has been a very healthy boy.
Gryff has had an interesting time with others. When we first adopted him, we were childless. Over the course of the last 6 years, we have had 3 children. It was a major adjustment for us and for Gryff. He didn't always respond well to the children, but we have worked with a wonderful trainer and dog walker who have helped us every step of the way to find a system that works for our family. Gryff can be sweet and affectionate with close family and friends but is not always trustworthy around children. He treats them as he would treat a puppy and it hasn't always yielded positive results. Therefore, we make sure to keep him crated or separated from certain friends, especially those with young children. It's less stressful for him and safer for everyone. As for other animals, Gryff had been socialized when he was younger, even going to doggie day care for a time. As he has aged, he has become less tolerant of other dogs. Ours is a one dog home and I think he likes it best that way.
We feed Gryff Merrick dry food- 1 scoop twice daily. He also likes Stella and Chewy, Merrick, and Old Mother Hubbard treats. For special occasions, or when we train, he also gets steak, hot dogs, cheese, and chicken.
Gryff has always been very smart. He really enjoys training sessions where we practice recall, down, sit, stay, wait, heel, kiss, touch, go to your place/crate and paw. He can do some retrieving but gets bored with that quickly. He is excellent at the box toy where he has to open different compartments to find a treat and he has even learned to press the Staples "easy" button. That's all of his mental exercise! As for physical exercise, he goes for walks a few times a week with the family but mostly plays and runs around the back yard. As he's aged. and especially with this heat, he's been very content to nap a lot of the time.
One of my favorite Gryff stories is from earlier this year. My son TJ, my oldest, is 6 years old. Of the 3 kids, he has the best relationship with Gryff. One day, I couldn't find either of them. I happened to look out in the yard and noticed them playing together. My son had a pocket full of treats and was going through Gryff's entire training routine with him. It was so much fun to watch how they have grown together. It was one of my proudest human/fur mom moments to see them getting along so well.