In Memoriam 

A farewell tribute to our departed companions who no longer stand at our sides but remain forever in our hearts.     "I can't think of anything that brings me closer to tears than when my old dog -- completely exhausted after a hard day in the field -- limps away from her nice spot in front of the fire and comes over to where I'm sitting and puts her head in my lap, a paw over my knee, and closes her eyes and goes back to sleep. I don't know what I've done to deserve that kind of friend."   -- Gene Hill

Each of our dogs is devoted to its owner, but in a sense, every WPGCA dog is a part of us all.  Club members share the excitement of a new litter; we watch pups as they grow; we commiserate with their owners over the trials and tribulations of chewed slippers, muddy feet and the hazards of puppyhood, and we study their performance come testing time.  Some become the sires and dams of future generations.  If we’re lucky, we get to share time in the field and blind.  As the years go by, the spring and fall test gatherings are like time-lapse photos where we renew acquaintance and catch up on griffon adventures.  Some fall victim to untimely tragedies and many succumb to the vagaries of old age, but all are too quickly gone.  Then we see a new pup and maybe it's the cock of his whiskered head, a joyous demeanor, intense desire in the field, but something reminds us of our old friend.  We remark about the similarity, all the while knowing that none could be quite the same.

We invite club members to share a brief tribute in memory of their WPGCA dogs that are no longer with us.