07/13/2025
On April 16, 2025, Grizzly was born via c-section to his Mama Louisa. Grizzly was the thickest of his siblings. In the beginning, Grizzly earned the nickname “Meatball” because of his husky figure and the unique white spot on the back of his neck. When it was time to eat, Grizzly would posture looked like that of a grizzly bear walking on his hind legs, when he climbed on his mama. He looked like a lineman in the NFL. When Louisa was unable to produce enough milk to feed her puppies, Grizzly was a natural when it came to drinking from a bottle. As little as he was, he would grab the bottle from me and would try to finish it off.
Ironically, as Grizzly grew older, he began having difficulty holding any liquids or food down. Not too long after eating, Grizzly would regurgitate his bottle. At times it was so bad that he would lose some of the coloring in his mouth and gasp for air. Every day I’d pray that he wouldn’t aspirate and get pneumonia. From around 4-6 weeks old, it was a very scary time. Multiple ER and doctor visits gave little to no answers as to why Grizzly could not hold food down. The only glimmer of light was that he was able to still gain weight. When Grizzly was 6 weeks old, he underwent a fluoroscopy.
In dogs, fluoroscopy with barium is a real-time X-ray imaging technique used to evaluate the esophagus and swallowing function. Barium, a contrast agent, was administered to Grizzly, and the fluoroscope allowed his medical team to observe the movement through his esophagus and stomach as Grizzly swallowed. The test results showed that there was an issue with Grizzly’s esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter that goes into his stomach. With trial and error, it was determined that heavier food was the key to help Grizzly keep his food down. Stella and Chewy’s puppy patties were the only thing that he could keep down. The good news was that the patties quickly absorbed up water and expanded in his stomach. This meant that Grizzly could stay hydrated while he ate. This was a game changer. As Grizzly continued to grow, his condition improved, and he was out of danger. Many doubted that he would survive, but I just refused to believe that. They didn’t know him like I did. There was no way that I was going to give up on him.
Grizzly went on to make a full recovery and, like his mama, proved himself to be a survivor. I cannot adequately put into words just how special Grizzly is... he is a walking miracle.
When the time came to pick Grizzly’s forever family, well, he picked them himself. When a family came to meet two of the other puppies, I pointed out that Grizzly had already chosen them to be his forever family. While the other puppies ran around the yard, Grizzly followed the couple and never left their side. Grizzly quickly bonded with their dog Elaine and was quite smitten with her. He had almost a cheeky grin and gave every indication that this was his family. I had honestly struggled with if I was going to be able to part ways with Grizzly but once I saw his behavior I knew it was fate. It was apparent that I had already played my part in his journey, and it was time for him to go. With that, I would like to officially announce that Grizzly has found his forever home! He now lives way up in Wisconsin and his family absolutely adores him.
We love you Grizzly! You make sure to check in and tell us all about your adventures!
