Last night I dreamt that my beloved KC Cav Fiona, who died in July, came to visit. She
‘gave me five’ and anointed me with her sweetness. Then, at the PO today, I saw an ad from our local shelter for a 13 YO Cocker Spaniel with the same look Fiona had in her eyes. I think I’ve fallen in love. I’ve inquired at the shelter just now, and let my daughter know “am I crazy?” I know what I’d be getting into to some extent, having lost so many animals in the past. Anyone want to weigh in?
I adopted a couple of senior dogs. Some had months, some had years. Some needed more care, the others less. I always found it peaceful to know, they are save and happy. If you have the time to support the dog to settle in and the strength to let the dog go when the time has come - personally I’d do it.
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You’re a saint! If you can emotionally and financially make it work than go for it! If an older dog fits your lifestyle than you may end up with a new best friend.
It breaks my heart when I see ads for elderly pets. I can’t imagine the confusion and fear they would experience. Unfortunately SO and I are very active. Later in life I would be more than happy to give a loving home to one of those greying faces.
I’m torn. I’d like to give all those poor older dogs a good home for their remaining months or years, but on the other hand, it’s so much more difficult financially, logistically, and especially emotionally.
I actually talked to a local rescue about doing Hospice Foster for them once my senior JRT passes. It’s not something I can emotionally handle along with his medical needs in his old age, but it definitely tugs at my heart. The upside to long term foster is this rescue will help cover the pricey extra vet bills that come along with a senior special needs dog… maybe your local rescue would consider a similar situation?
Senior dogs are great! Usually grateful for a home, don’t chew up things and pretty easy care barring any medical issues. My cousins cocker lived to be 18.
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I’ve done four seniors so far (lab, cocker, chi/terrier and Peke) and as others said, it can cost a lot in vet bills and end far too soon, but I think I’ll always keep doing it. None had any problems integrating and they bonded quickly and strongly with me.
All mine came from from the local municipal shelter.
As for medical bills - sometimes it is possible to find an agreement with the shelter. I once adopted a 16 year old GSD and the shelter paid for his medication e.g.
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I checked her out yesterday. She was sweet when we walked in, a real treat hound. The sad part is that she would turn on you in a heartbeat for unknown/unseen reasons-well some were known. But turn on you like really aggressive. Really sad. Story is her owner went into hospice and she’s been in a shelter for a month now. Went to one shelter but that seemed to be too busy for her so the managers sent her over to this quieter one.
I’m going to go back and sit with her today. One part of my situation is I"m leaving for 2 weeks in 2 weeks and don’t really want to let my house sitter be in a vulnerable spot with a new dog who may/may not be over her aggression by then. She may never be over her aggression but apparently it is something new (she’s 13.)
I was pondering this last night and wondered if this could also be some kind of dementia showing up?
On the other hand she was the most spry and playful 13 year old dog. I’ve ever seen.
Is she cage aggressive? I’ve adopted two that acted like land sharks at the shelter, but were fine outside of that environment.
We adopted a senior yorkie to be a bff for our other small dog, and it was the best thing we’ve ever done. If you didn’t know she was a senior, you’d never guess (well, the teeth would give it away). She is said to be 11 or 12 and is healthier than the younger dog we adopted from a different rescue a few years ago.
Re the aggression. Can you bring her home for a weekend trial?
Our first small dog was a growler. I read all the stuff that said it was a warning and we should respect it, which we didn’t always do, but she never actually snapped at anyone. I don’t think hers was pain-based, it was more territorial and a reaction to surprises.
Enabling – if you take her now, she will be somewhat settled at your house before your house sitter comes to stay. Can you arrange to be home almost constantly for a few days when she first arrives? I found our yorkie bonded really tightly to me because I was home for the long weekend when she first came and my SO was out of town. Even though SO spends much more time with her now, I’m her person. Maybe you can set Ms Cocker Spaniel up for a quiet weekend stay with you, at home, and you can get to know each other and bond?
Thanks all! This is all so supportive. I don’t know if she is cage-aggressive-I met her in a nice big room. She’d let you pet her for a bit then growl, bark and snap repeatedly. It was unexpected enough that I just sat and talked with her rather than risk my fingers disappearing. She was sweet and loving to the shelter person who had spent the most time with her.
Still, you can’t un-see what you have seen.
I am pretty sure that given she was with the same people for 13 years, she’d settle right in here. I am home most of the time, have 8 secluded acres, just me. If today goes well, I am going to negotiate with them maybe a foster or a trial. I’ll report back!
My visit got called off because Ms. Dixie was more aggressive to a volunteer there at the shelter today-so her aggressively is increasing-they want to 'reassess." I feel sad for her, she has so much life in her but something is definitely not right. They will touch back with me this weekend.
Almost four years ago I adopted a very senior tiny deaf dog. I just had her put to sleep two weeks ago. I am glad I gave her a home where she was loved and safe, but feel a bit cheated that she wasn’t here for very long.
Still, I search Petfinder and fall in love with those gray faces and cloudy eyes. Just something about older dogs…
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Be aware that shelter life can eventually create behavior changes in many dogs. I’ve heard several shelter workers talk
about it due to the nature of them being LOUD, chaotic, scarey places.
My most recent shelter dog took weeks to come down off her fight or flight reactive behavior due to the loud, chaotic shelter environment. 200 Pit mixes and full Pits acting in fight mode and barking crazily for hours on end.
Some dogs go into a shell and become depressed, other take the more aggressive protective mode.
What you see as the personality in the shelter may be completely different in a home environment.
The shelter where my 2 rescues came out of were unbelievably scarey. all I could think of was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest” for dogs. An asylum for misfits. No wonder some can’t adjust.
For some dogs, it’s a sad, scarey place to suddenly be thrust.
I’d probably opt to do a test run of a few days at your quiet home and see if the behavior doesn’t improve.
And thank you for considering a senior, they’re so often overlooked.
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Agreed! Our local shelter is really bad (although they’re in the process of building a new, fancy one to replace it) and the elderly cocker that I adopted had snapped at and/or bitten at least two workers there. Especially after they adopted out the little dog that had been surrendered with her. Even when they brought her into the feed room (the only meeting spot available) to meet me, she ignored us all, and growled almost continually if you approached her.
The staff saw the doubt on my face and suggested I take her home for a couple of days on trial. Sure enough, by the time I loaded her in the car to drive home, she was a different dog. Even walking into a strange house with cats and two other dogs was nothing compared to how the shelter upset her, and she was fine from the start. By the next morning we had bonded enough for me to call the shelter back and tell them I’d be by that afternoon to sign the adoption papers and pay her fee.
I lost Monkey two short years later to bladder cancer, and she never stopped being a cranky cocker with strangers, but I think about her every day and wish we could have had more time. Like @pony baloney I do feel cheated that I met her so late. [ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10581516}[/ATTACH]
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I’ve decided that I have to have a dog. But at my age a young dog would not get a good deal from me, so I would definitely look for an older dog to fill our house…there are so many advantages, too, not all disadvantages, exccept that they cost more in vet bills as they age.
Chestnut mare, thanks so much, I still feel dedicated to this dog. I hope they call me tomorrow to come back and visit, I will contact them if they don’t. I hope they let me foster her for a few days, and I have such a feeling in my gut that I’ll be able to report a similar story. I think the poor girl just needs a place to be with someone who can give her peace. AND I’m glad the shelter is re-assessing her to see if there is medical situation that has come up.
