Gosh, Simon. What can I say about Simon, except that he snuck into my heart and changed me from a "big dog person" to a "dog person".
I had never liked small dogs-- I'm terrified of Chihuahuas, but I willingly embrace a 100 lb. Anatolian Shepherd. But one look at Simon, and I thought, "He's kind of cute, hmm, maybe...."
Simon was found running in some fields off in the country-- covered in foxtails with a perforated eardrum. He was four months old at the time. After thirty days, after being advertised as found in the local papers, with no one responding, he was taken into the H.A.L.O. dog program.
He went to the vet, was neutered, the foxtail was removed from his eardrum, and he was ready to go. I held my breath, wanting him to have a good home, but not wanting to lose him. I wasn't going to get another dog, after all, I had one large one and two cats already-- and he seemed so fragile, we thought that Shasta (my shepherd mix) might hurt him while playing.
Finally I took him home for a weekend, but thought that he was too young and small to play with Shasta. I was heartbroken. Then, three weeks later, Joyce asked me to try again. She had watched Shasta play with Simon, and realized that although it looked like she was very rough with him, she really wasn't. It was just dog play.
Simon is almost 11 months old now, he harasses my cats, but sleeps next to them. He's a bit tougher to train than any German Shepherd mix that I've had, but I know that there are breed differences. I'm learning. He's sweet, and funny and sometimes drives me crazy, but I love him. And it's great for Shasta to have another dog to play with, too.
Now, when I go to Joyce's to volunteer or just hang out, I look at ALL of the dogs, not just the big ones, as potential pets. I even play a bit with the Chihuahuas-- seems like you can teach an old gal new tricks ;))
-Christine
