Seniors

Jeff & I adopted our first pug in 2009. She was a blind puppy mill pug named Cassidy.

I grew up with cats. I knew nothing about dogs, let alone a pug. Being that Cassidy came to us from a mill, we had no idea how old she was. We didn’t really care. Once we saw her picture online, we fell in love.

Before we adopted her, Jeff and I scoured the internet reading everything we could about blind dogs and pugs. We were ready for this. Cassidy stole our hearts as soon as we saw her. About six months after Cassidy’s arrival, we wanted to get her a brother. We adopted a 9-year-old, one-eyed, blind black pug named Woody from Southeast Pug Rescue & Adoption.

Woody was a sweet senior pug that was with his foster for almost a year. Even today, I keep wondering why was this sweetheart of a pug was not adopted sooner. Why was he being over looked by potential adopters? Blind dogs are amazing! They learn to get around and adjust to their surroundings so quickly. Did no one want to adopt Woody because of his age?

Let me tell you, Woody was 100% perfectly healthy when we adopted him. He loves going for walks, loves belly rubs, loves gnawing on deer antlers and he loves pug eggs. Woody will be 13 in October. He has slowed down over the 4 years we’ve had him. He is a little arthritic and he is on meds to help with his liver enzymes. We are glad that we adopted him. We wish we would have adopted him sooner.

Now that we are running our own rescue, it still makes us wonder why senior dogs tend to be over looked by potential adopters. It seems that everyone wants to adopt a young perfect puppy. In my eyes, senior dogs are the perfect puppy. They are older, they still play and cuddle. Senior dogs have great house manners. Within one hour of Woody being in his new home, he found the front door and tapped on it to let us know he wanted to go out. Can anyone tell us why senior dogs tend to be overlooked? They are the perfect dog!

As I type this, PPSNR has perfectly adoptable senior dogs that are still looking for their forever home. Mack is 7. Mack is such a sweet sweet boy. Corrina is 9 BUT she is meeting a nice family this weekend. (Keep your fingers & paws crossed) Harley is 9 but he is not quite ready to be available for adoption yet.

Please don’t underestimate the power of love that an older dog has. Once you’ve been loved by an older dog, you too will wonder why they get over looked.

Rachel Koltoff
Philly Pug & Short Nose Rescue, Inc.