He crossed to the other side of the street. When they did the same, he knew he was in trouble. He turned around to retreat, but they jumped him and threw a black cloak over his head. He tried to fight them, but it was no use.

They were attempting to jam a cloth inside his mouth, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a huge, gray, hideous looking mastiff9 emerged from the darkness, and came charging at them.

His growls sounded like those of a wolf or a bear. He lunged at Don Bosco’s attackers.

They were frightened right down to their toes. They pleaded with Don Bosco to call him off. He agreed to when they agreed to stop accosting passersby. They ran for their life. Grigio didn’t chase them. He stayed by Don Bosco’s side.

Don Bosco and Grigio became partners.

From that time on, whenever Don Bosco came home late, after he passed the last of the buildings, Grigio would come from out of nowhere, to walk him home.

Many people from the Oratory saw Grigio.

One time he barged into the Oratory. Everyone was frightened. But then he ran up to Don Bosco, nuzzled his face into his friend and ran off. Don Bosco never made a big deal about Grigio, who he was, where he came from, why he stayed around for thirty years.

Don Bosco writes that the last time he saw Grigio was in 1866.

But he finished writing his memoirs some years before he died, so he did not chronicle all his adventures with Grigio.

There is a recorded incident of Don Bosco and Grigio on the road to Ventimiglia, near the French border, as late as 1883.

When Don Bosco shared this with a friend, she marveled, because dogs just don’t live that long.

Don Bosco smiled and said, "Well, maybe it was his son or grandson." He didn’t want to get into it with her.

The Salesians sisters testified that they experienced Grigio’s protection, on three occasions between 1893 and 1930.