The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was enjoying a day off and browsing through message from the Wheatens In Need group.  A lot of Wheatens had gone through WIN as of late, but none of them were local, and I was feeling rather helpless as I wasn't close enough to foster, or participate in WURLs.

Someone sent a petfinder link to yet another far away Wheaten, and
after looking at him I decided to check our zip code, just in case.  And that's when I found Simon at the local animal shelter.  I was amazed.

I called upstairs to my husband who was working at home and said I was going to pick up a Wheaten at the  shelter (and of course he had to come along!) and called Gwen to make sure it was ok.  Within 10 minutes we were in the car on our way to rescue Simon.

Simon was the most adorable Wheaten with no hair I had ever seen!  He was thrilled to see us, friendly as could be, and bounced around like he had springs on his feet.  His previous "owners" stated the reason for dropping him off was the fact that he nipped at someone trying to take Halloween candy away from him.  The shelter was wonderful, and since they were a kill shelter with limited space, they were thrilled that he found a foster home, as he had been there longer than his allotted "time".

Simon spent Thanksgiving with 3 other Wheatens (our two and a visitor, Chewie, also a WIN dog), as well as our three cats.  Although he loved the cats, it was obvious he hadn't been around other dogs too much, but our crew quickly showed him the ropes.
Simon was a typical two year old without much training, so his method of play involved a lot of mouthing.  He also did have some food possession and resource guarding.  Other than that he was a true delight - a lap snuggler, great Wheaten kisser, and amazingly agile!

We weren't quick to look for a home for him because we saw his behavior improving daily from interacting with our two and with us. Over the two months that we had him, he turned into a much different dog!  We spoke to a few potential homes, but wanted to make sure that not only was the home perfect for Simon, but that Simon was perfect
for his new owners.

After lengthy emails and calls with a potential new mom, Marc and I were confident that Simon was going to get the attention, love and training that he needed.  We drove Simon to West Virginia to meet his new mom, Carla.  I think they hit it off well from the beginning - Carla got down to his level to talk to him, and Simon was quick to leap on her, bowl her over, and smother her with kisses.  They rode together in the backseat the rest of the way back to Simon's new home in Kentucky.

We miss our boy but know that he is in a wonderful new home!

Susan G
Raleigh, NC
 

Last Updated 04/20/2005
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