In 2019, a man contacted us, and said that his son has brought a dog home. He said he feels sorry for the dog because his son is mistreating him. After hearing our suggestions, dad was able to convince the son to give the dog to a foster we had found. However, the foster was not able to keep the dog for long and had to bring Zico to the shelter.
Zico was about 3 years old when he arrived at the shelter. He was a relatively a shy dog and couldn’t bond with the staff or other dogs. He would bite whoever tried to pet him or show affection, but Niusha, one of the volunteers at the shelter, was able to bond with him very well. Let’s hear the rest of the story directly from her:
“It was a complete accident that I discovered Zico. One week we were at the Terrier area, and one of the visitors pointed to Zico and asked why that dog was so timid. This made me want to connect with Zico. I asked Mr. Razavi, one of the volunteers who bonds with timid dogs really well, for his help. After trying very hard to get close to him and Zico constantly running away, we were able to finally gain his trust. After some time, slowly he showed signs of trust and friendliness. Until some Fridays later, he would only spend time with me and wouldn’t let anyone else touch him.
A few months ago, we took him on a trip with us to North of Iran, and we realized that he is quite smart and obedient. My family realized that keeping a dog is not that difficult and by no means impossible! When we returned from our trip, we brought Zico back to the shelter, but I insisted on taking him home for another week, and my family agreed. After staying with us for a week I didn’t let my family to take him back to the shelter, so Zico stayed with us since. Now everyone loves him, even more so than me.
I am very happy to have chosen Zico, because even though he is beautiful, due to his temperament he may not have had the chance to find his forever home and leave the shelter.”
