The start
Name: Grizzly
Nicknames: Grizz, Grizzly bear, brat, big boy, scaredy cat, mommas boy.
Breed: Great Dane/ Cane Corso
Date Of Birth: December 26 2021
Grizzly came into my life when he was 8 weeks old, He was super shy and untrusting of people at first but as he started to warm up his personality started to show. At four months old, Grizzly started alerting to certain things which at first I thought was my anxiety increasing, he would come over from whatever he was doing if I randomly sat down (I worked at a dog daycare at the time so he would be either playing or napping) and would lay beside me with his head on my lap until I felt better. Grizzly was always shy of strangers but when it came to how I felt, I came first, no matter how many people were around me. As my symptoms worsened and Grizzly got older, I noticed it wasn’t anxiety he was alerting to, it was my high heart rate and low blood pressure. Once I drank water or electrolytes and I found my symptoms went away he would go back to his business. I started training him based on this, first with learning to turn off light switches and then would reward him everytime he booped me. And thats where it all started almost 7 months ago. He is the true definition of a momma’s boy.
As of today, November 27 2022, Grizzly’s alerts and training have become amazing and part of my daily life. With my fiance working away 95% of the time I am alone a lot besides my dogs. Trying to picture my life without him, with being freshly diagnosed with Orthostatic Hypotension and Vasovagal Syncope both types of Dysautonomia which I never even heard of until a few months ago and have had the symptoms for over a year. I would definitely be more affected and depressed due to the lack of independence I would have, without Grizzly, everything would be completely different.Â