Eteponge
Skilled Investigator
My mother several years ago told me something very interesting about my grandmother, how she use to see a large black dog as big as a human when she was a kid that hung around her that no one else could see (even when it was right next to someone) but her, except for her father who could see it too. It wasn't as solid as it appeared to be, as my great grandfather hit it with a large stick and it went right through it like it wasn't there.
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My mother told me this story that happened to my great grandfather and my grandmother in the 1930s when my grandmother was a little girl of around eight years of age. They lived in rural Georgia at the time.<o></o>
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My great grandfather, going along a path home, was confronted by a large black dog as big as a human, which blocked his path. He tried to attack the dog with a stick, but the stick went right through the dog and did not harm him. Whoosh! The stick went right through the dog as if it wasn't there. The dog would sometimes run back into the woods, only to run back and block his path again, as if it was playing with him.<o></o>
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My grandmother also saw the black dog as large as a human throughout her whole early childhood. She would often be sitting in the kitchen and she would see it come in through the back door, while her mother was making supper, and only see would see it, no one else could. It would also often appear in her room at night and it danced on his hind legs at the end of her bed for her entertainment, although she was frightened of it, and her sisters who were in the same bed with her never saw it, only she did. After they moved from that location, she never saw it again. Only she and my great grandfather ever saw it.<o></o>
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Both my great grandfather and my grandmother were very serious about this and always insisted it truely happened and they only told a few family members about it and they were both not the type of people to make up stories.<o>
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Awhile ago I decided to run a Google Search on the Internet to see if anyone else has ever had such an experience as they had. Lo and behold, I found it on the first try...<o></o>
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http://wesclark.com/jw/s_yow.html - The Snarly Yow<o></o>
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Some excerpts...<o></o>
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[Begin Quotes]<o></o>
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Some time ago, William, a strong and sober man of 30, was returning home to his family the night he encountered the Snarly Yow. He had accomplished his errands in Boonsboro and was approaching the South Mountain section called Glendale when he saw the animal.<o></o>
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Under the bright stars the ungainly form of the beast could be distinctly traced. It was black, much bigger than any dog he had ever seen. As he came nearer, the animal moved to the center of the National Pike, blocking his way.<o></o>
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William first tried to scare the dog, then threw sticks and rocks at it. But instead of striking the creature, the objects seemed to go through the animal, having no effect whatsoever. The dog glared at him and threateningly bared its wolfish teeth in a snarl. Without making a sound the beast turned, then continued across the road into a thicket.<o></o>
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Another man, known to area residents as one of the best marksmen in the region, also came upon the Snarly Yow on the National Pike. Taking aim with his rifle, he fired several well-directed shots at the animal, but each speeding bullet passed through the shadowy beast, leaving no mark. The huntsman fled terrified.<o></o>
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[End Quotes]<o></o>
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Matches quite well with the personal account my mother told me concerning my great grandfather and grandmother, doesn't it?<o></o>
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There is also a famous Roman Catholic Saint, Saint Don Bosco, who encountered a large grey dog who became his protector throughout his entire life. This being would appear and disappear, would never eat food or drink water, would attack people who meant Don Bosco harm, would growl at Don Bosco to stay put if danger was afoot, stayed with him for decades, something a real dog couldn't do.<o></o><o>
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http://www.donboscokhmer.org/MEMOIRS/Chapters/chapter_63.htm - Saint Don Bosco's own writings on Grigio<o></o> (Link is now defunct, but I saved some footnotes from the website below)
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From the Footnotes:<o></o>
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It had a truly frightening appearance. Every rime she saw it, Mama Margaret would unfailingly exclaim: "Oh, what an ugly beast!" It looked like a wolf, with a long snout, erect pointed ears, and gray fur. It was over three feet tall. (BM IV, 497)<o></o>
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Bonetti (pp. 263-264) and Lemoyne (BM IV, 496-502; VIII, 222) tell of several other incidents in which Grigio saved Don Bosco from assailants in the early 1850 or kept him company on lonely walks in the dark.<o></o>
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Don Bosco often thought about trying to learn where the dog came from. In the end he just said, "Well, let him belong to whomever he likes, as long as he's my good friend."<o></o>
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But Grigio appeals to our curiosity in a unique way and makes us ask about his origins. In answer to a query in 1870, Don Bosco remarked, "It sounds ridiculous to call him an angel, yet he is no ordinary dog ..." (BM X, 177)-Another time, in 1883, Don Bosco was visiting the Olive family, generous benefactors from Marseilles. He told them how he had recently met his old and faithful gray friend on the road from Ventimiglia. The astonished lady of the house observed that Grigio would have to be two or three times older than dogs normally live. Don Bosco smiled mischievously. "Then it must have been Grigio's son or grandson," he suggested, evading the issue she was driving at. (MB XVI, 36)<o></o>
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My mother told me this story that happened to my great grandfather and my grandmother in the 1930s when my grandmother was a little girl of around eight years of age. They lived in rural Georgia at the time.<o></o>
<o></o>
My great grandfather, going along a path home, was confronted by a large black dog as big as a human, which blocked his path. He tried to attack the dog with a stick, but the stick went right through the dog and did not harm him. Whoosh! The stick went right through the dog as if it wasn't there. The dog would sometimes run back into the woods, only to run back and block his path again, as if it was playing with him.<o></o>
<o></o>
My grandmother also saw the black dog as large as a human throughout her whole early childhood. She would often be sitting in the kitchen and she would see it come in through the back door, while her mother was making supper, and only see would see it, no one else could. It would also often appear in her room at night and it danced on his hind legs at the end of her bed for her entertainment, although she was frightened of it, and her sisters who were in the same bed with her never saw it, only she did. After they moved from that location, she never saw it again. Only she and my great grandfather ever saw it.<o></o>
<o></o>
Both my great grandfather and my grandmother were very serious about this and always insisted it truely happened and they only told a few family members about it and they were both not the type of people to make up stories.<o>
</o><o></o>
Awhile ago I decided to run a Google Search on the Internet to see if anyone else has ever had such an experience as they had. Lo and behold, I found it on the first try...<o></o>
<o></o>
http://wesclark.com/jw/s_yow.html - The Snarly Yow<o></o>
<o></o>
Some excerpts...<o></o>
<o></o>
[Begin Quotes]<o></o>
<o></o>
Some time ago, William, a strong and sober man of 30, was returning home to his family the night he encountered the Snarly Yow. He had accomplished his errands in Boonsboro and was approaching the South Mountain section called Glendale when he saw the animal.<o></o>
<o></o>
Under the bright stars the ungainly form of the beast could be distinctly traced. It was black, much bigger than any dog he had ever seen. As he came nearer, the animal moved to the center of the National Pike, blocking his way.<o></o>
<o></o>
William first tried to scare the dog, then threw sticks and rocks at it. But instead of striking the creature, the objects seemed to go through the animal, having no effect whatsoever. The dog glared at him and threateningly bared its wolfish teeth in a snarl. Without making a sound the beast turned, then continued across the road into a thicket.<o></o>
<o></o>
Another man, known to area residents as one of the best marksmen in the region, also came upon the Snarly Yow on the National Pike. Taking aim with his rifle, he fired several well-directed shots at the animal, but each speeding bullet passed through the shadowy beast, leaving no mark. The huntsman fled terrified.<o></o>
<o></o>
[End Quotes]<o></o>
<o></o>
Matches quite well with the personal account my mother told me concerning my great grandfather and grandmother, doesn't it?<o></o>
<o></o>
There is also a famous Roman Catholic Saint, Saint Don Bosco, who encountered a large grey dog who became his protector throughout his entire life. This being would appear and disappear, would never eat food or drink water, would attack people who meant Don Bosco harm, would growl at Don Bosco to stay put if danger was afoot, stayed with him for decades, something a real dog couldn't do.<o></o><o>
</o><o></o>
http://www.donboscokhmer.org/MEMOIRS/Chapters/chapter_63.htm - Saint Don Bosco's own writings on Grigio<o></o> (Link is now defunct, but I saved some footnotes from the website below)
<o></o>
From the Footnotes:<o></o>
<o></o>
It had a truly frightening appearance. Every rime she saw it, Mama Margaret would unfailingly exclaim: "Oh, what an ugly beast!" It looked like a wolf, with a long snout, erect pointed ears, and gray fur. It was over three feet tall. (BM IV, 497)<o></o>
<o></o>
Bonetti (pp. 263-264) and Lemoyne (BM IV, 496-502; VIII, 222) tell of several other incidents in which Grigio saved Don Bosco from assailants in the early 1850 or kept him company on lonely walks in the dark.<o></o>
<o></o>
Don Bosco often thought about trying to learn where the dog came from. In the end he just said, "Well, let him belong to whomever he likes, as long as he's my good friend."<o></o>
<o></o>
But Grigio appeals to our curiosity in a unique way and makes us ask about his origins. In answer to a query in 1870, Don Bosco remarked, "It sounds ridiculous to call him an angel, yet he is no ordinary dog ..." (BM X, 177)-Another time, in 1883, Don Bosco was visiting the Olive family, generous benefactors from Marseilles. He told them how he had recently met his old and faithful gray friend on the road from Ventimiglia. The astonished lady of the house observed that Grigio would have to be two or three times older than dogs normally live. Don Bosco smiled mischievously. "Then it must have been Grigio's son or grandson," he suggested, evading the issue she was driving at. (MB XVI, 36)<o></o>
