FOR THE LOVE OF A SENIOR DOG

Buddy, age 14. Buddy is on Our Dogs Page!

Opinions vary widely on the age a dog becomes a senior. Many medical professionals use a sliding scale taking weight and breed into account to calculate senior status. Dog food companies generally classify any dog over the age 0f 7 as a senior. Many dog owners who have the honor of sharing their lives with dogs 10 years and up swear that their dogs are far from seniors regardless of chronological age. Whatever rule of thumb you accept, dog lovers know that a senior dog provides endless joy and love. Here, quoted with permission by The Senior Dog Project (http://www.seniordogproject.com/) are:

The Top Ten Reasons to Adopt a Senior Dog

1. Older dogs are house trained. You won't have to go through the difficult stage(s) of teaching a puppy house manners and mopping/cleaning up after accidents.

2. Older dogs are not teething puppies, and won't chew your shoes and furniture while growing up.

3. Older dogs can focus well because they've mellowed. Therefore, they learn quickly.

4. Older dogs have learned what "no" means. If they hadn't learned it, they wouldn't have gotten to be "older" dogs.

5. Older dogs settle in easily, because they've learned what it takes to get along with others and become part of a pack.

6. Rescued older dogs are good at giving love, once they get into their new, loving home, they are grateful for the second chance they've been given.

7. What You See Is What You Get: Unlike puppies, older dogs have grown into their shape and personality. Puppies can grow up to be quite different from what they seemed at first.

8. Older dogs are instant companions -- ready for hiking, car trips, and other things you like to do.

9. Older dogs leave you time for yourself, because they don't make the kinds of demands on your time and attention that puppies and young dogs do.

10. Older dogs let you get a good night's sleep because they're accustomed to human schedules and don't generally need nighttime feedings, comforting, or bathroom breaks.

The list could go on and on. The Boastful Boston would like to add two more:

The eyes of a senior dog hold such expression, such love and such a desire to please, that any person that looks into them feels as they have been given a great gift.

This older owner admits that she no longer has the energy to keep up with a puppy. A puppy who is not entertained is a destructive puppy. How grateful am I, when I can sit quietly and type with one hand and pet my senior baby with the other!

It is true that a senior dog's time with a forever family MAY be shorter than a younger dog. But please remember that the life span of any dog cannot be predicted, from the youngest puppy to the 19 year old that the Boastful Boston had the honor of adopting at age 6. And besides, no matter how long they live...... it's never long enough, is it?

Here are some of our senior babies, both forever and foster.

Nelly (in the front), age 11, with siblings from left to right, Tootsie and Diego.

Read more about Nelly on Our Dogs page.

Gus, age 9. Read more about him on Our Dogs Page!

Kelsey, the Boastful Boston's own 14 year old angel!

Sam, age 14. Adoption Pending!

Dixie, age 12, adopted!