Dog of the Week (May 23, 22): Zorro

Zorro

Perhaps Zorro was named after the fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince who instructed, “It is the time you have wasted on your rose that has made your rose so important.” Well, yes, we have “wasted” a lot of time on Zorro; and, yes, he has become very important to us, indeed.

Zorro is a 3.5-year-old medium-sized, strong, 20 kilos (45 pounds) ginger-colored beautiful shepherd mix.

However, when Zorro arrived at SOS, he was terrifying. He snarled at everyone and everything, and it soon became apparent that he had been so mistreated, beaten so badly and so often, that he expected no less from us; and the only way he knew how to express himself was to snarl viciously. Frankly, many shelters would have just put the poor creature down for everyone’s safety.

Not us at SOS. A few brave souls entered his kennel and noticed that, while he did snarl, he didn’t attack. Later, when we sat on a chair in his kennel, he’d come over and stand right next to us…and snarl. Finally, he let us touch him, then pet him; and, despite his snarling, he seemed to appreciate it greatly. In fact, we soon realized that he was snarling in pleasure (if that makes any sense).

As we “wasted” more time on Zorro, he learned other ways to express himself, thanks in part to his female kennel companion, another shepherd mix. Like her, he began to bark, to wag his tail, and even to smile. It turns out, he is a dream to walk on a leash! He is just so happy to be out and about with those who taught him to believe in people again, and to believe in himself.

Zorro doesn’t snarl any more (unless you scratch his sweet spot on his tummy and, in his ecstasy, he forgets himself!) He’s a miracle of redemption.

Zorro is our rose. Trust us: If you adopt him, he will bloom where he is planted. And none of the time you spend falling in love with him will be wasted.