Thursday, April 30, 2009

What would you do?

We've been toying around with the idea of getting a second dog for a while now, and stupidly I stopped in at the Hudson Mohawk Humane Society on Monday afternoon to see what they had available. I absolutely fell in love with this little lady, Audrey, and I haven't stopped thinking about her since then. She's eight years old and was surrendered to the shelter when her owner died. It breaks my heart to see this little one behind bars and we're considering our options.

Do any of you have experience with the adoption of older dogs? I know about the hesitancy some people have because half (or more) of their life has already gone by, and with those years comes bad habits and behavior that can't be corrected this late in the game. But I can't help but feel like we could give her an incredible last few years full of love and fun, and at the same time increase Olive's happiness by bringing in a new friend and companion. This, of course, would mean more vet bills, food bills, trips outside for playing and bathroom duty, plus less room in the bed at night and more attention paid to Olive because I'm sure jealously is right around the corner.

What would you do? I'd love to hear your stories if you have any, both good and bad.

7 comments:

Pictures From Mike said...

Go for it!
Just don't try and teach it new tricks.

Kate said...

Oh man, Mike, you should see Olive playing with the giant inflatable balls we've been giving her. I need to record it and show you. Total riot.

Metalsgirl said...

oh, it could be so rewarding!!! I foster dogs and we have had a few "old folks" over the years and when they get adopted it is THE best feeling! I adore people who aren't afraid to take on an older dog. And seriously, these dogs are truly grateful. Really! In most cases you can totally tell that they know they just fell into a good thing. We rescued and oooooold, blind poodle a few years back. She was a dear, sweet little girl. I thought she might live out her life with us, but she found a lovely older woman who loved her to bits. So I say go for it - I bet you'll be glad you did. Oh, and THANK YOU for rescuing vs. buying! People like you ROCK!

BlazeHaWK said...

Carrie...it's so rewarding all my dogs have been rescues. They are just looking for a good home. Just make sure that Olive gets along with Audrey first introduce them to each other and let them check each other out before you make your decission. Elvis let us Adopt Cheyanne and they got along famously. Cheyanne came from an abusive situation at 5 years old and Elvis showed her how life could be so good in a good home. Bowie our current Dachsie on the other hand had the opportunity to have a baby brother Rusty Dachsie but she didn't want anything to do with him. She made it quite clear when we had them meet. So just take Olive next time you go to visit Audrey to make sure they will get along. Good luck!!

Unknown said...

Hi Kate the more the merrier...comming from someone who was never a dog person, ours, Sierra...7 and Jake, an estimated 5ish, are the best thing that has happened to us in a long time, yes they have their ways,,,,but thats what makes them ,them....go for it...love you nancy

Melissa Mykal said...

I can't say anything about adopting an older dog... but I will say that having two dogs is great!

We have Miikka who is 5ish, and we adopted Layla last summer, and she is almost 2. They adore each other.

Elisabeth said...

Wow...my RSS reader decided to wait until today to send me this post. WTH? I guess I shouldn't rely entirely on RSS to get all the latest updates, huh? :/

Well, as late as it is, here are my two (or perhaps ten, you know me...!) cents:
We've had a lot of dogs over the years. My parents took in strays, rescues, abused dogs, and also fostered dogs until they could go to another home. There wasn't a dog my mom and dad could say no to :). We never ended up with a dog so bad we couldn't deal with it, despite some really sad cases. One of my mother's current dogs, Roxy, was a rescue from a very abusive home. The original owners beat her regularly, locked her in the garage for days at a time, and did all kinds of horrible things to her. Roxy is a Great Dane and naturally, very large (she stands well over a foot taller than me when on her hind legs and weighs around 165 lbs!). When we got her, she was about 3 years old. We didn't know what kind of behavioural issues to expect from such a large, abused dog, but luckily there were few. Mostly, she was just very afraid of any men at first. With a lot of love and attention she has really come out of her shell, and I have to say she is one of the best dogs I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is now nearly 11 years old, and still behaves like a puppy! We all love her to pieces. :)
Anyway, I know that story is kind of irrelevant, I just wanted to say that sometimes it works out really well to take in an older dog, even if the previous living conditions were less than ideal and you're anticipating a lot of problems.
You guys don't have kids, and Olive seems like a really easy-going girl, so I would say give it a shot!
Of course, you've probably long ago made up your mind by now, but yeah. O_o;
Stupid RSS! :P