I usually write about things I see or hear about or maybe someone has asked me about. This post was because I have several people I know of that are getting older & have recently adopted puppies. Not that this is a bad thing in many cases, but in some cases I don’t think it is always thought out & is a too spur of the moment decisions. Most people see puppies & can’t wait to pick them up & cuddle them & have them lick them, me I am one of the exceptions, not a puppy person. I was always more attracted to adult dogs than puppies, even as a child. Now kittens interested me more than cats did, I liked cats but was drawn more to kittens. Now I am allergic so have to avoid both : (
I think some people think they need to get a puppy because they need to train it when it is young, I honestly have never had a puppy & never will. Well I got dogs Sam & Hunter when they were estimated to be 9 months old, but that is the youngest I have ever had. Our dog growing up came to use at about 18 months old. My dog Ace was about 15-18 months old. Sydney was 3 yrs old & Echo was just a year. The saying that you can’t teach an older dog new tricks is so false. That would be like saying only kids learn & there have been people in their 60, 70 & 80’s who just graduated from college. I have taken many dogs through obedience training & they have learned basic training 101 & 102 & also some did trick classes, agility, dock diving, nose work & parkour. It can take longer for some dogs to learn, but not all, the attention span of a puppy can be challenging & take a while because they don’t have the attention span.
As we mature in life I think it is only fair for us to think about some things when we are looking at adding a pet to our household. There of course is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us but as people get into our mid 60’s & above we know we have lived probably 3/4 of our expected life. Our energy & health is not the same as it was in our 20, 30 or even 40’s.
The puppy above is a newer puppy of friends of mine who are in their early 60’s & she is semi-retired, her sister helps with the puppy if they are gone more than 4-5 hours. They socialize their puppy with her sister’s young dog, they are active & are able to walk her 1-2 miles now that she is 5-6 months old. Even as an adult she will still be small enough for them to be able to pick her up if needed for any reason (injured, load into car, at the Vets office etc…). They have family that would take her if something happened to them.
Things to think about:
- Do I have the energy to take care of a puppy? Puppies have lots of energy & need exercise, walks, play time & training.
- Kittens need to be played with & socialized & taught not to scratch furniture etc…
- Puppies should taken to a positive only training when young for social skills & to learn proper training, can you do this?. Training ways have changed since years ago & a lot of the old ways have been studied & shown to cause mistrust & other issues. Training classes really teach humans how to properly train their dogs. Blog posts I wrote: #’s 97,99,100, 101,all give good information about training methods & how to find good trainers. I have other posts about puppy care as well.
- Are you home enough to care for a young/baby pet? Young pets need more attention & puppies need more opportunities to relieve themselves outside. When a neighbor got a new puppy & I asked her what she was going to do working 10-12 hours a day & she said it will all work out. Luckily she came home at lunch, still probably not enough, but better than 10-12 hours. Sadly now the dog (about a yr old)is chained in the backyard all day some days while she is gone.
- Are you able to walk a puppy to help give it the exercise it needs? Recommend it stays in your yard till it has its vaccinations in case others in the area do not & they could transmit the disease to your puppy through exposure or fecal matter. Please know you can hire a dog walker to walk your dog if you can’t.
- Young animals tend to nip & scratch, it’s what they do as they are learning. If you are a diabetic you need to be extremely careful. My neighbor’s neighbor used to go over & interact with the neighbor’s dog, but he recently showed me a large mark on his arm & said the dog did it(jumped on him & about knocked him over). He told me she is out of control & he can’t risk being around her as he is a diabetic. He has two dogs of his own, & is pretty dog savoy. The owner can’t walk her because she didn’t properly train her & she now is too big for her to control. Puppies/kittens get under foot so have to make sure you are stable & not going to trip over it & get injured.
- In many cases if you adopt a mixed breed puppy you have no guarantee of its size as an adult, especially if the shelter or rescue doesn’t know its exact age or what the parent dogs were (most guess). The neighbors dog is about 70 lbs now & maybe a Shepherd/Pitt/Lab mix. Sadly many rescues will choose a breed that is highly adoptable & put that in the bio. When Echo & his sisters were first rescued the rescue that got them couldn’t keep them due to space, so advertised for another rescue place to help them out & said they were Beagle mixes. There is not a bit of hound in Echo & he is 52 lbs, not a 15-25 lb Beagle mix, his sisters are all about 30 lbs. You can double the weight of a puppy when it is 20 weeks old & get a good idea of the weight as an adult (at a healthy weight). The next photo below is of one of Echo’s sisters.
- Financial responsibility of the pet, many seniors are on fixed incomes & good quality Vet care, good quality food & treats can add up. Please be sure you keep this in your budget.
- Do you plan to travel after retirement? If so can the pet travel with you? If not, who will care for the pet when your traveling?
- If for an unexpected health issue you had to be hospitalized & a rehab center who would care for your pet?
- If you had to move to assisted living what would happen to your pet?
- Are you prepared & pet proofed your home for a puppy or a kitten or other young pet? Baby pets have to be taught everything & it is so important to be patient & to remember they are a blank slate & it is the owners job to teach them most everything, what is appropriate to chew, where to potty & not potty, how to use a crate, proper greetings & much more.
- What is the average lifespan of the pet I’m considering & how old will I be when it reaches this age? How is my health, my spouses health?
I think many people forget how much work a puppy or young pet can be till they get one. I have heard this quite often. I have adopted out a younger adult dog to a single senior woman, but beforehand I asked her about what would happen to the dog if she were to pass away or could no longer care for it. She had already discussed this with her daughter & she would take the dog. I also spoke to the daughter & she was totally onboard with this & they lived a 2 min walk from each other & she was at her mom’s most every day. I knew the dog would know her & I had her come to the meet & greet together so they both could meet the dog.
I am not a senior yet, but in some restaurants I could order off the senior menu. I will have pets for as long as I can (hope the rest of my life) but I will adopt pets that are not real young. I am a bird & dog mom now, but most of my birds are seniors (3 out of 5 are) & as they pass I don’t plan to get more(probably will adopt a canary but their life span isn’t extremely long). They have “godparents” so they have someone who will take them if I can no longer care for them. My dogs also have “godparents” (different friend than the birds do) who will take them in if I pass away. If I am still in good health & active when my dogs are gone,I will adopt a single dog who will approximately 4-6 years old. My dogs are currently 4 (5 this Friday) & 5 (6 in July) years old, so I’m guessing they will be with me for another 7-10 years. I will plan on adopting a dog that I can pretty easily lift if needed, my dogs don’t jump into my vehicle so I have to lift them. May need to use the ramp when they are older. I plan to travel where my dog can go with me (airbnb’s & camping).
I know many people love baby pets, which is awesome but I hope this post helps people to look at the whole long term picture. We need to consider all we can & not just that cute little face that catches our eye. This goes for any type of pet. There are a lot of wonderful adult & senior pets in shelters & rescues that need homes & you may be saving its life. Puppies/kittens often get rescued or adopted & not euthanized because they are young & an adult dog has to take its place & loses It’s life when they are full & no room.
I know this blog topic/subject is difficult, it wasn’t easy to write, but I felt I needed to write it & felt it might save the life of a pet. A different neighbor no longer has his dog(just over a year). He got him as a little puppy & yes I got attached & the puppy adored me. He sadly didn’t properly train the dog, or left him home alone too long, he had accidents & chew things. No fence, but the dog wasn’t taught the boundaries, I think he thought the dog should just know them, but when unsupervised outside for short periods he wandered some. He said his youngest daughter(doesn’t live there) was allergic to him(but never tested her). I don’t know where he is, (I haven’t asked yet)but I hope he has a fenced yard or is learning to be leash walked & being taken to positive only obedience classes. I know animals are considered property in the eyes of the law, but they are family to me. I am proud to be a dog mom & a bird mom.
I write this blog for educational purposes & share my 20+ years fostering a variety of pets & a lifetime of living with pets. I research care, talk to experts, & share my knowledge with my readers so they can help their pets to thrive & not just survive. If you are enjoying & learning from my blog please click the like button at the bottom of this post. I have 140 other posts on this blog & you can find the table of context on my home page under the show tab (3 lines). Then you go back to the home page & scroll till you see posts you want to read. If you have a question or a post idea please feel free to email me at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com
Thank you for reading & please check out my other posts on this blog, Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 