Morsels of Goodness: Simon

This week's Morsel of Goodness . . . Simon! Simon (formerly Reddy and Reggie) had such anti-social behavior and aggression that his foster parents, Krys Krystosek and Andrew Timmerman, wondered if he could safely be placed in a home with children or other dogs. He had been an unclaimed stray at a high-kill animal shelter in Northern Arizona. With a lot of training and patience, Krys and Andy managed to bring out the best in the fearful one-year-old. His new mom has this to say about rescuing Simon:

My husband, Andy, and I met Reddy when he needed to be transported to a veterinary hospital to be neutered. United Animal Friends (UAF) had found Reddy at an animal shelter and since there weren’t any foster homes available, he would have to be boarded at a kennel until he was adopted. After his surgery, we decided he would recuperate better at our house.
We knew he was going through scary transitions having been in different places with unfamiliar people. We could only imagine what daunting ordeals he went through prior to all of that. A tiny guy, he was fearful and would bite or run away from anyone wanting to touch or hold him. He harassed our three dogs and would hoard all of the balls and toys. We suspected his bad behavior wasn’t out of meanness, but out of fear. We gathered it would take time for him to trust humans again and enjoy the friendship of other dogs; and at times questioned if he would become adoptable at all.
After a couple of weeks, a foster home opened up. We thought it was better for everyone involved for him to go into foster care. However, Reddy was there less than an hour when he ran away in the middle of a huge thunder storm. A UAF search team found him, cold and wet, and we agreed to foster him until we could find him a permanent home. We took him to weekly adoption events, but after each one he returned home with us; the right match just wasn’t there. Each week, our dogs were more and more excited to see him return.
Then, after a couple of months, Reddy was adopted by a wonderful family. They loved his energy and playfulness. Unfortunately, he did not like sharing his space with the family’s two cats and once again he came back to us.
As time passed, he was a lot calmer and more relaxed and all our dogs had become good pals. Being extremely bright, he was learning what behaviors were acceptable. He was more loving and had become an important part of our family. We adopted him and changed his name to Simon to mark his new beginning with his forever family. We realize the little guy was meant to be with us all along.