Decision : to get an older dog or not ?
It has been over 16 months since Petunia the Chi went to the Rainbow Bridge ... and looking at choices of mini-schnauzer (sp?) or Yorkie size and somewhere in the 2-4 yr range ... Any info would b...
Forum Discussion
We lost our two large dogs last year (the 13 year old Golden in January and the five year old Lab/Chessie in April). They had camped with us all their lives. We managed to make it until June without a dog and started looking. We are both older (69 and 74), but knew that we were not at the point where a small dog was right for us.
The first dog that caught my eye was a rescue from the floods in Houston. I contacted the rescue, filled out all the paperwork, spoke with the woman on the phone, and was told that the dog was not right for us because we were "too old" for such an active dog (he was about 60 pounds). We were not amused.
The week after that I found a year and a half old, almost 90 pound, Lab at a shelter near us. He was completely untrained and had been returned to the shelter by the first family who adopted him because they thought he was "totally uncontrollable". We picked him up the next day. He was definitely a handful and didn't even know what sit meant. This past year has been devoted entirely to making Ollie into the best dog ever. He camps with us and loves it.
He is probably the smartest Lab we have ever had (and we've had several).
We found that when we had our old dogs, a ramp was the best way to load them into the pickup and for Murphy, who only had three legs, the best way to help him into the trailer. We use the ramp for Ollie to get in and out of the pickup, even though he is perfectly capable of jumping in and out. Not going to chance joint problems that can be avoided.
I guess what I am trying to say, is you will find the dog that is right for you, and when you see him or her, you will just know it's right. For us, a little past puppy stage was best, and even though he needs plenty of exercise, that's good for us, too.
The first dog that caught my eye was a rescue from the floods in Houston. I contacted the rescue, filled out all the paperwork, spoke with the woman on the phone, and was told that the dog was not right for us because we were "too old" for such an active dog (he was about 60 pounds). We were not amused.
The week after that I found a year and a half old, almost 90 pound, Lab at a shelter near us. He was completely untrained and had been returned to the shelter by the first family who adopted him because they thought he was "totally uncontrollable". We picked him up the next day. He was definitely a handful and didn't even know what sit meant. This past year has been devoted entirely to making Ollie into the best dog ever. He camps with us and loves it.
He is probably the smartest Lab we have ever had (and we've had several).
We found that when we had our old dogs, a ramp was the best way to load them into the pickup and for Murphy, who only had three legs, the best way to help him into the trailer. We use the ramp for Ollie to get in and out of the pickup, even though he is perfectly capable of jumping in and out. Not going to chance joint problems that can be avoided.
I guess what I am trying to say, is you will find the dog that is right for you, and when you see him or her, you will just know it's right. For us, a little past puppy stage was best, and even though he needs plenty of exercise, that's good for us, too.
