MANKATO, Minn. -- The first pit bull Michael Griffin ever bought -- a puppy he named Shaq -- had to be sneaked into the house under false pretenses.
His parents, retired military service people who met while on assignment in Korea, told their 18-year-old son he couldn't get a pit bull, so Griffin claimed the puppy was a Labrador. It wasn't until they'd already fallen in love with Shaq that they realized he wasn't growing like a Lab.
"He was a grayish-color pit bull, and as he got older, my parents were like, 'Why is his head getting so big?