11/01/2026
Happy 2nd Birthday Bear!
Iāve always said that animals find me when they are in needā¦and somehow also exactly when I need them, too. Bear is no exception.
I finished building out our kennel space in July of 2025. In August, I started a month long board & train program for a client who had booked at the start of the year in preparation for the space being completed. On September 17th, just hours after that dog went home, Bear arrived for emergency boarding. Had they contacted me even a few days earlier, I would not have been able to take him in at that time. It was quite literally the first moment I had the availability to help, and his timing could not have been more precise.
When Bear arrived he was completely shut down and incredibly overwhelmed. Prior to his arrival here, he had spent the first ten months of his life in an outdoor kennel with no exposure to the world. He had never even been inside a building, seen anything beyond the property he was born on, and had no concept that a world even existed beyond that prior to being picked up. He was also about 30lbs underweight from not being provided adequate calories, had double ear infections, his ears were crusted over and the hair had fallen out (likely from flies eating at him), and he had a pretty significant parasitic load.
His owner had traveled quite a distance to pick him up from the breeder who she had a good relationship with in the past. However, upon arrival it was apparent that something had changed drastically since she last visited. The young dog she discovered was very different from what had been presented to her, but give the condition he was in, she knew she couldnāt leave him behind. She traveled back to NH with him over the next couple days and immediately contacted me for help.
Within two weeks of his arrival, and after much discussion with his owner, we established that Bear was going to need more support than they would be able to provide at that time. Given that the only alternative option at that time would have been to place him in a shelter, and knowing what that would have likely meant for him given his behavior profile and breed mix (Great Pyrenees x Great Dane), I knew I had to intervene.
At this point Bear had already been with me for a couple weeks and had made it clear that I was his safe space. Being the first human a dog chooses to trust (especially when they have no reason to trust humans at all) is an incredible honor. I wasnāt going to let him down. In October of 2025 Bear was officially surrendered into my care, and our real work began.
Itās been a little over a year since that day. I still remember how he trembled on the ground outside the kennel building, trying his absolute hardest to make himself disappear. Telling me with his whole body as best he could - āI am not a threat, please donāt notice me.ā - Those first few days were really hard for me emotionally. Puppies just arenāt supposed to feel that way. š
In the subsequent weeks and months, I had the privilege of slowly getting to see more of who he actually was underneath all that fear. Turns out, heās just a sweet goofy gentle giant who, above all else, just wants to be loved.
Getting to witness that shift in an animal will always be one of my greatest joys in life.
We have come a long way since that first day, and I truly could not be more proud of the progress we have made together. He has made it abundantly clear that he has picked me as his person, and often enthusiastically expresses his adoration with lots of nubbinā wiggles and corncobbing whenever he gets the chance (ouch). He has learned that he actually loves blankets, and beds, and cuddles, and is a real big fan of stuffies. He is wonderfully social with other dogs (which is a rare experience for me), and has already been a tremendous help with the work I do here. Recently he has also been helping as decoy dog in client sessions too, and has impressed me with his intelligence, focus, and wonderful neutrality with other dogs. He has made lots of new friends, dog and human alike, and is slowly getting brave enough to explore his world.
We still have a long way to go, but we arenāt in any rushā¦just enjoying the scenery along the way together. To the Bear who arrived here a little over a year ago, Iām sorry the world was unkind to you, you deserved better. To the Bear sitting beside me today, thank you for trusting me and letting me into your heart. Wishing you the happiest of birthdays my not so little house giraffe, love you always. š¦
