- Dec
- 11
We’ve Adopted Another Senior Dog: Duff!
Posted by Kerry Anderlik at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
We have a new addition to the Anderlik family! His name is Duff. He is a sweet, gentle, 72-pound, 7-year-old dog who had been dumped at the county animal shelter. I thought that after the great response we received to our previous post about adopting senior animals, you would all want to hear Duff’s story.
Duff is living with Ma and Pa, helping them get over the awful sadness of the sudden death of their dog Patty. Patty died from what the vet called a delayed reaction to an insect bite that deposits a parasite who kills red blood cells. Patty was Ma’s “favorite daughter” and constant companion for 11 years. We were really worried that it was going to be very difficult for Ma to get over the loss of Patty.
As Pa explains it, “I knew we needed to adopt another dog right away, or we would tear ourselves apart missing Patty and staring at her empty dog bed. We told our daughters to get out there and find an old dog who needs us. We like to adopt big old dogs because big old dogs are sweet, calm, and wise, and yet for some reason, people usually want small, younger dogs or puppies, leaving the lovely old souls to peer out hopefully from their runs at the shelter. We are in our 80s, and we can’t keep up with puppies, so older dogs fit in real well at our house.”
My sister Christy found Duff at the county animal shelter, but Ma says she thinks that “Duff was sent down from heaven. He’s just wonderful. He seems to be able to read my mind.” Just look at his face!
Pa says, “Duff is well behaved, attentive, laid back, considerate, learns quickly, and gets along great with Woofie [their other dog] and our cats. Duff has blended in perfectly (after only five days), like he’s lived here forever. We’ve had no accidents or problems. We love him.”
We really, really miss Patty, and we will never forget her or stop loving her. But it’s great to have a new dog brother we know Patty would have approved of. We really believe that for seniors, the best way to ease the grief of losing an animal companion is by adopting a senior animal.
Tell us about your experience adopting a senior companion animal.
Posted to Family & Friends | Posted to Tags: adopting, dog
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W.D. Potter says...
December 12th, 2008, 3:52 pm
What a wonderful story! Unlike this one: When my parents’ 11-year-old pet-store purebred dog died earlier this year, I tried every angle to convince them (in their mid-70s and not all that well) to adopt a senior from the local shelter. My mother, who just adores our three shelter/rescue adopted dogs–and two of them as seniors, broke my heart when she impulsively bought (at a price they could not afford) another purebred puppy at a pet store! I reminded my parents that their action meant a senior dog at the shelter would not get a much-needed home (and likely be “put down”), and that the puppy mill would crank out another puppy for profit in horrific conditions. Her response was devastating, “We didn’t want a second-hand dog.” Meanwhile, their “first-hand” puppy has them stressed to the limit. Nothing better than a second-hand senior dog!
HENRY LANE says...
December 12th, 2008, 9:38 pm
these people are real heros
thank GOD.
cat_mom says...
December 12th, 2008, 9:47 pm
Our experience was with senior cats. Our 2 previous cats were older persians. They were beautiful additions to our family, but did not like small children. the first one had been in a family of kids and they evidently tormented him. our second one, was found wandering the street, so obviously abandoned. They were the best little guys you could wish for. The most laid back easy-going cats we had ever had.
Because they were older they just fit in and needed no training. They were dearly loved for the short time we had them. So, don’t ever pas on the older guys. They are such a reward.
alice cremonini says...
December 13th, 2008, 9:13 am
Awwwwwwww he’s so cutie *________*
Give him a big kiss and a sweet embrace!
Fred Remus says...
December 13th, 2008, 10:26 am
don’t mean to be a curmudgeon, but i would hardly call a 7 yr old dog a senior. my 9 yr old, maggie, would like to prove to you how she is hardly ‘over the hill’. i feed her and our other dog, carey, a home-made diet and all their trats are home-made as well. they are a perfect weight for the age and size, both being large pups. have sparking teeth, and are as active as they always were. we are lucky to live in rural new york state, with lots of nature preserves and hiking trails galore, so we trek in the forrest every day, unleashed and unfettered, just as it should be.
anyway, thank you for promoting the love that is there at your local pound.
Jan says...
December 13th, 2008, 6:18 pm
I have rescued many senior dogs and placed them. One old 16 year old poodle came to me so thin we did not think he would survive. All teeth rotten and his canines had rotted away leaving holes up into his nasal passages. With nutrition, vet attention and love this formerly uncared for dog was adopted by a young girl. He plumped up and became beautiful. They travelled everywhere together for two of the happiest years of his life. I also ended up keeping a 12 year old Jack Russell that was so badly abused he would bite first and ask questions later. I knew he would never be successfully rehomed so I kept him. He did learn to trust and became my constant shadow, although he still would bite if he felt threatened. No one else wanted him but when I was ill he never left my side.
He died of kidney failure 6 years later , knowing love and gentle touch. I now have all senior rescue dogs and they are all wonderful in their own way. I get the great feeling to know I have saved and enriched the life of the dog and the new owner. Dog breeders should hang their heads in shame and so should anyone who supports such greed and cruelty.
Natalie says...
December 13th, 2008, 8:06 pm
I agree completely: Nothing better than a second-hand dog!!! (Bonus if the dog is a senior)! I adopted, to the bewilderment of so many friends and family members, a 3 and a half year old pit bull whom had lived the first two and a half years chained up, neglected, and fought with other dogs. Then he spent over a YEAR at the no-kill shelter where I fell in love with him. Aw, almost brought a tear to my eye just to remember the day!
Atticus may have not been a senior, but I suppose 3.5 years old is already an age that most dogs become “unwanted” to people looking for a new addition. When the dog is a pit bull with scars on his body and face, and has a violent past and a horrible case of separation anxiety due to the neglect he has grown up with, the potential for adoption greatly decreases. If he had been at a regular shelter, he would have been killed in no time, as most sadly are.
When my boyfriend at the time stopped by this shelter (Operation Kindness in Dallas, Tx), we were originally hoping for a puppy. We perused the puppy room and met a bunch, but no one who really stole our hearts. Then my then-bf, Sean, went to walk around the big-dog room. He came back to me saying, “Natalie, come check this guy out.” I walked over and bent down to see a white pit bull with grey spots completely soaked down the front of his chest from his slobber who was doing crazy jump-spins off of one side of his wall. He stopped when I bent down to say hello, and he looked so innocent and sweet. I stuck my hand through the bars of his gate in front of his face and he licked and licked and licked my hand, appreciatively. Sean thought I was a little crazy but I could just tell what a sweetheart Atticus was.
A shelter employee noticed us at his cell and said we should take him outside to play with him a bit. We agreed, and outside he just lied in the grass, thrilled to be in the grass and getting petted by us three. The employee lady told us that when the shelter’s rescue van found him, he was walking alone on a street in a bad part of Dallas, dragging a chain so huge and heavy that he could not even be lifted into the van- they had to call help to come chop off the awful chain! They said he’d been there the longest at the shelter and he was all the staffs’ favorite animal.
Because of his bad separation anxiety (hence the drooling and zombie-like jump-spins off the wall), he was allowed to come stay behind the front desk at the end of visiting hours when the front doors were locked. They said he was so happy just to have human contact that he would curl up at the feet of the front-desk staff and keep them company. Often staff members took turn taking him to their house to spend the night because they loved him so much, but none of them were able to adopt him permanently.
Atticus is the love of my life, and also the love of Sean’s life. He is such an amazing dog: incredibly sweet and loving, quite intelligent, and extremely well-behaved. He even has had the awesome ability to convince people that aggressive breeds are not necessarily aggressive dogs!
He’s napping by my side as I type this… Oh, and if any of you are wondering, his dad Sean and I both get to spend equal time with him because we trade him off every 3 or so days
Luckily we are great friends, but even if we weren’t, I know neither of us could bear to part with him… So Atticus went from living tied up on a chain outdoors in Dallas in crazy-extreme temperatures to living it up in a Los Angeles Downtown apartment as well as a condo in Venice Beach! He’s one happy camper, let me tell you… 
I encourage all my family and friends to adopt… and why get a puppy when you get a wiser and more fun, already housebroken new friend??
Happy Holidays everyone!
-Nat & Atticus
Nini Sanchez says...
December 13th, 2008, 8:14 pm
Thank you for such an inspiring story!!!! Yes, no other dog will ever take the place of Patty… nor should one. But, taking in a senior dog is the greatest gift to yourselves and to the memory of Patty. Some day you will all be together again! And, until then, Duff completes your family!!!! God bless all of you!
Alixxandraaa says...
December 17th, 2008, 12:44 pm
Horray for people that adopt these animals that needitthe most.
=]]]
Marta Mares says...
December 19th, 2008, 10:59 am
Árgentina is a country which has a Federal Law for the Protection of Animals, to which almonst nobody pays any attention, either in big cities like Buenos Aires or in the small towns like the one my husband moved to some 18 years ago. This is a mountain, touristic place Stray dogs abound because of thel ittle care paid to spaying females or neutering males. Through the years here I gave shelter to many dogs, some horses and donkeys, such as many other good intentioned people do. Some I kept, some I could give away after restoring their natural beauty. this means that most of my adopted companions were senior dogs (also donkeys and horses only useful to feed private zoos wild animals). Alll of them, without exceptin responded with deep love to my care and reciprocal love. Some 17 went through our lifes, since their life span was mostly short. Nowadays, myself getting near the point where puppies or younger pets would be faced with being orphaned again, andm y property reduced to a large house and garden, I have only three dogs (two dobbermans, one mixed breed) and one kitten. All three came from the street. The largest dobbie whose origin and age is ignored appeared lost in town 3 years ago just few days after my 14 year old dobbie bitch died. He was in poor condition, very nervous, with signs of mistreatment, starvation, andm ostly of aving being chained or somehow imprisoned. He was nice but intensely nervous, capable of destroying everything around if left inside a closed environment. He did destroy my whole laundry room, curtains, etc. and used to howl desperately if left alone. After three years of love being rceivved and given (he is the Alpha dog at home) he turned out to be the sweetest creature you could imagine. Like all of my former dobbies, he is tender, childish, playful , possessive but never aggressive. He sitll does not like to be left alone but I try to leave something house and dog sitting when I have to travel. I ignore the age of all these three dogs. Guess the smaller ones to be around 8 and when he (Joaquin) appeared the vets said he could be around 11. After the care of these 3 years, nobody would give him more than 8. Love does miracles. <I expect to survive all of them despite the usual, almost unbearable pain when they pass away. But if it happens that they go first I will go to the shelter -a hiddeous, sorrowful place where the poor things languish- and get another real senior friend/s among the many abandoned there. They are the best pals one can get.
donna f says...
December 19th, 2008, 1:08 pm
I have a 9 year old sheltie that I did buy him from a breeder when he was 8 weeks old. He is a double merle, a genetic defect and no one wanted him.. He is a loving companion and so alert due to his deafness. In the past, those that don’t meet the “standards” are euthanized. But he was born and deserved to be loved. I value every day I have with him.
LYNDA in CT says...
December 20th, 2008, 5:58 pm
We lost our Beagle/ Basset, in February 2007. We rescued him in North Carolina and had him for a short 10 1/2 years. We went everywhere with him! All he wanted to do was be with his family, and it mattered nothing as to where we took him.
After losing him, we went to our local rescue and found a charming wild Beagle!!! It was not easy at first. We had no idea of his past, but wanted his present and future to be a love-filled one.
It’s been a year and a half now, and that wild one, just wants to be home, on the bed, under the blankets! He checks his bowl frequently to make sure he has food and water.
His dances of glee, which he performs, upon a return from a short outing for me, takes my breathe away, each time.
Where would we all be, if not for these fur-babies? All they ever wanted was to give love, and receive it, everything else just falls into place.
We thank God each night, when he tucks us in that we are all together!
Jeni says...
January 2nd, 2009, 11:49 pm
We just adopted an 11-year-old cockapoo from the Humane Society. His owner and best friend went into assisted living and could not take him along. Bud is our first family pet and we thought we would just try to give him a good retirement home. He has surprised us and is becoming more and is moving, playing and interacting more and more each day. We are the family our friends deemed the least likely to ever have a dog, but we have all fallen head over heals for our new family member. He is the perfect first dog for us. He is teaching us about the joy of having a pet and the unconditional love he affords us. He is awesome. We couldn’t have asked for a greater gift. Just don’t go see Marley and Me! You’ll cry your eyes out.
Lori aka BeagleMom says...
March 11th, 2009, 12:29 pm
I’m so very glad you adopted an older pet. I adopted two older beagles and I prefer to adopt the “senior” dogs! So glad Duff is with Ma and Pa!