Simon's Second Chance
 

     His story starts in a Connecticut kennel in January of 1999. He was born with the same expectation any puppy has . . . . he would live with a loving family who would treat him with kindness. When his new family came to get him, he greeted then with joy because he loved all people. They named him Simon. He was a very beautiful but very exuberant puppy that with typical Golden joy picked up all manner of things in his mouth and got into everything he could find. This very quickly brought the ire of the family down onto his soft pale Golden head.
     The family believed the way to cure this problem was to chase Simon, grab the article from his mouth and then to hit him to let him know that he was bad. To keep him from getting into things, they kept him in his crate much of the time. The family had a lovely invisible fence installed so that Simon could run in their yard to his hearts content but he was afraid of the collar and the shock that came with it. Soon he wouldn't go into the yard at all. This was extremely frustrating to both the family and to the puppy because Simon had no other recourse but to relieve himself in the house. The family tried to solve this problem by allowing Simon water only on his puppy food.
     Simon was a very soft and sweet guy and really tried to do what was right but he didn't understand the correct things to do. He was ignored much of the time while he was in his crate so when he was out, he did everything he possibly could to get attention. This included getting into even more things, ripping up everything and generally expending energy in ways the family was not too happy about.
     The punishments became harsher and the banishments longer. When Simon was hit, he tried to show his dad that he was sorry, so he submissively urinated. The family didn't understand this conciliatory behavior and thought he was being defiant and beat the defiance out of him. Simon finally realized that submitting was not working so he tried another tactic. He began growling and snapping when people tried to take things out of his mouth. This worked pretty well but his dad still hit him. This also managed to get Simon banished to his crate even more.
     Soon the puppy began to resent his crate and resisted going into the crate. So the family grabbed him by the collar and shoved him in. Quickly, Simon learned that if he growled and snapped when people touched his collar, he wouldn't be put into his crate. However, the family retaliated by putting Simon in the laundry room where they could walk him in on a leash. What was a puppy to do?? Eat the door, of course!
     About this time, the family went on vacation and put 7 month old Simon in the kennel. When they returned from vacation, they decided that he was too much trouble, had gotten too out of control and was aggressive. They called the kennel and told them either to find Simon a home or have him euthanized. The kennel was understandably appalled and called us at Dog Ears and Paws.
     At Dog Ears and Paws, we not only train assistance and therapy dogs for persons with special needs but we help the general public with behavioral problems and hold obedience and agility classes to raise funds for assistance dog training. All our training uses only humane and motivational techniques. Our director went to the kennel and evaluated Simon and found that he was of a normal temperament for a Golden if slightly fearful. She worked very hard to try to duplicate what the family was experiencing but was unable to see any aggressive tendencies.
     We decided that Simon needed direction and some way to reduce to high energy level. I began working with him in August of 1999. At this point, he was a beautiful, large, very affectionate but very mouthy boy. He quickly adapted to his head collar and mastered sit and walking on the leash within days. After several weeks of work, we felt Simon was ready to go back home. We contacted the family and arranged to meet with the dad to explain what Simon had learned and what they needed to do to continue his training.
     The day had come for Simon to go home. We explained our program to the puppy's dad. He was not very receptive to the special equipment and extra time that the behavior modification plan required. We explained that these things were necessary in order to change Simon from a potentially dangerous dog into the loving, affectionate dog he was born to be. He agreed to give it a try and left with Simon.
     By the following Monday, Simon was back at the kennel. He had picked up a
battery and while the dad was attempting to take it from Simon (not in the way he had been instructed), Simon snapped at him, catching his thumb with a tooth. Simon now had a confirmed bite. The owner turned over ownership of Simon to the kennel and refused to have anything more to do with him.
     The kennel called Golden Retriever Rescue and Simon was placed with them with specific instructions about how to deal with taking things from him and how to get him into a crate. Unfortunately, these instructions were not followed and he again snapped while being put into a crate. Again, his tooth caught flesh—his second confirmed bite. He was now considered unplaceable. Despite their desire to find every Golden a wonderful home, legally they can't place a dog with a record of biting. They had no option but to consider euthanasia. Again, Dog Ears and Paws stepped in. Golden Rescue released him to us, we returned him to the kennel and began our search for the perfect home.
     We searched for several months but it was difficult finding a home for a dog with "issues". During this time, I lost my dearly beloved Shar-Pei so in December of 1999, Simon came to live with my family.
     The first few weeks were extremely difficult. The behaviors that were not evident in the kennel were all too evident at home. He growled over everything he picked up, he was extremely difficult to crate without force, he didn't like to come into the house through a screen door, he didn't like to get into cars or trucks, he mouthed your hand when you tried to pet his head, and he shredded napkins (right off your lap!), underwear, socks and Kleenex.
     My daughter and I were very committed to working this out with him and each time one of us would say "I can't do this", the other would say "We're his last hope".
     Simon has now been with us for a year. He will bring things that he "steals" to you and is now learning to pick up laundry that drops out of the basket on the way to the laundry room. He walks in the house without difficulty and jumps into cars and trucks fairly easily. He loves to be petted and never puts his mouth on anyone except my daughter whom he considers his littermate (she does nothing to change that opinion despite all my counseling!). He still likes to shred Kleenex and napkins and has now added paper towels and toilet paper. We're still working on that!
     He is doing very well in obedience and agility training (with the exception of the dreaded see-saw) and is being trained as a demonstration physical assistance dog. He will be able to pick up objects, pull a wheelchair, open door and turn on and off lights. He will go with us to demonstrate to the community and potential donors what an assistance dog can do. He will also be utilized in our senior visit program once he passes his certification for therapy dog.
     He goes to work with me daily and holds the title of assistant to the Assistant Director in charge of public relations and canine manners. He fulfills his position by welcoming all humans and putting new dogs at ease.
     Until Simon came into my life, I had never considered having a Golden Retriever. I am very grateful for the opportunity to experience the love and affection this wonderful breed is capable of. He has made me a better dog-trainer and a better person because he has shown me that despite early poor treatment by humans, he has forgiven us all and he wants to give back all the love he can. He's a wonderful guy and our lives would be less without him.