I adopted my Chiweenie, Lucy, nine years ago when she was a puppy. She sunbathes in the backyard while my kids swim, she relaxes next to me in her bed while I write, and she loves bacon mixed into her kibble. In other words, she\u2019s living the good life.<\/p>\n
If we moved and couldn\u2019t bring her, or if medical expenses got too high, I couldn\u2019t bear the thought of her living in a shelter for the rest of her life \u2014 where, statistics show, a dog her age doesn\u2019t have a great shot at adoption \u2014 when she was a part of our family during her former years.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, there are organizations around the country who look out for dogs like Lucy. These groups ensure that senior dogs, or dogs 7 years and older, are cared for during their golden years.<\/p>\n
Caring for or adopting a senior dog has its benefits: They have predictable personalities, they\u2019re trained and they\u2019re typically more low-key than energetic puppies. Plus, depending on the breed, these dogs may have as many years ahead of them as they\u2019ve already experienced.<\/p>\n
Three organizations walked me through how they\u2019re improving life for seniors.<\/p>\n
A Network of Foster Homes<\/h3>\n
In western Washington state, nonprofit Old Dog Haven (olddoghaven.org<\/a>) currently has 320 families in its volunteer foster network on call to take in seniors from shelters, animal control or families experiencing a life-changing event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take in dogs we don\u2019t think would otherwise be adoptable,\u201d says Joe Myers, marketing and art director. Joe and his wife have been fostering for years \u2014at one point, they had six dogs \u2014 and get joy from watching the dogs blossom in their new home. Sometimes the dogs do get adopted or sometimes the foster ends up being the final refuge for the dog. Either way, he says, \u201cit\u2019s not only good for the dogs, it\u2019s good for the people, too.\u201d<\/p>\n All the senior dogs that come into Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary (ofsds.org<\/a>) in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, come from local animal control, shelters and rescues within 100 miles.<\/p>\n \u201cIf animal control gets a senior dog and they can tell it won\u2019t do well (in a shelter), they will call us,\u201d says Noel Kiswiney, marketing manager.<\/p>\n Aside from its network of foster homes, Old Friends has a 20,000-square-foot facility called the PAWvillions. The facility was custom built for the dogs with easy-to-clean epoxy flooring, access to the yard from each dog room, special feeding crates and a full-service medical wing.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these dogs become lifetime residents,\u2019\u201d Noel explains, and will live the rest of their days at the sanctuary.<\/p>\n Medical and dental services are expensive for shelters and rescues. The Grey Muzzle Organization (greymuzzle.org<\/a>) funds these services and any other programs geared toward the well-being of senior dogs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe provide shelters and rescues the confidence so they can meet their health needs and get them adopted,\u201d says Lisa Lunghofer, executive director.<\/p>\n This year, Grey Muzzle awarded a record $616,000, focusing on organizations that can sustain their programs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really want to provide seed money for organizations that are committed for the long term for care for senior dogs,” Lisa says.<\/p>\n On its website, Grey Muzzle offers free webinars about the advances in veterinary medicine and other resources about common health issues in seniors and care tips. The goal is to keep dogs in their homes.<\/p>\n Last year, Lisa conducted the first nationwide study on how to increase the adoption rate of older dogs.<\/p>\n One of the takeaways was improving communication to the public about the joys of adopting seniors. \u201cWe need to think about senior dogs more broadly,\u201d she explains. \u201cA dog who\u2019s 7 probably has a lot of different characteristics and needs than a dog who is 14.\u201d<\/p>\n What can YOU do?<\/em><\/p>\n The post Giving Senior Dogs a Second Chance<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post Giving Senior Dogs a Second Chance<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n I adopted my Chiweenie, Lucy, nine years ago when she was a puppy. She sunbathes in the backyard while my kids swim, she relaxes next to me in her bed while I write, and she loves bacon mixed into her kibble. In other words, she\u2019s living the good life.<\/p>\n If we moved and couldn\u2019t bring her, or if medical expenses got too high, I couldn\u2019t bear the thought of her living in a shelter for the rest of her life \u2014 where, statistics show, a dog her age doesn\u2019t have a great shot at adoption \u2014 when she was a part of our family during her former years.<\/p>\n Thankfully, there are organizations around the country who look out for dogs like Lucy. These groups ensure that senior dogs, or dogs 7 years and older, are cared for during their golden years.<\/p>\n Caring for or adopting a senior dog has its benefits: They have predictable personalities, they\u2019re trained and they\u2019re typically more low-key than energetic puppies. Plus, depending on the breed, these dogs may have as many years ahead of them as they\u2019ve already experienced.<\/p>\n Three organizations walked me through how they\u2019re improving life for seniors.<\/p>\n In western Washington state, nonprofit Old Dog Haven (olddoghaven.org<\/a>) currently has 320 families in its volunteer foster network on call to take in seniors from shelters, animal control or families experiencing a life-changing event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take in dogs we don\u2019t think would otherwise be adoptable,\u201d says Joe Myers, marketing and art director. Joe and his wife have been fostering for years \u2014at one point, they had six dogs \u2014 and get joy from watching the dogs blossom in their new home. Sometimes the dogs do get adopted or sometimes the foster ends up being the final refuge for the dog. Either way, he says, \u201cit\u2019s not only good for the dogs, it\u2019s good for the people, too.\u201d<\/p>\n All the senior dogs that come into Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary (ofsds.org<\/a>) in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, come from local animal control, shelters and rescues within 100 miles.<\/p>\n \u201cIf animal control gets a senior dog and they can tell it won\u2019t do well (in a shelter), they will call us,\u201d says Noel Kiswiney, marketing manager.<\/p>\n Aside from its network of foster homes, Old Friends has a 20,000-square-foot facility called the PAWvillions. The facility was custom built for the dogs with easy-to-clean epoxy flooring, access to the yard from each dog room, special feeding crates and a full-service medical wing.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these dogs become lifetime residents,\u2019\u201d Noel explains, and will live the rest of their days at the sanctuary.<\/p>\n Medical and dental services are expensive for shelters and rescues. The Grey Muzzle Organization (greymuzzle.org<\/a>) funds these services and any other programs geared toward the well-being of senior dogs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe provide shelters and rescues the confidence so they can meet their health needs and get them adopted,\u201d says Lisa Lunghofer, executive director.<\/p>\n This year, Grey Muzzle awarded a record $616,000, focusing on organizations that can sustain their programs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really want to provide seed money for organizations that are committed for the long term for care for senior dogs,” Lisa says.<\/p>\n On its website, Grey Muzzle offers free webinars about the advances in veterinary medicine and other resources about common health issues in seniors and care tips. The goal is to keep dogs in their homes.<\/p>\n Last year, Lisa conducted the first nationwide study on how to increase the adoption rate of older dogs.<\/p>\n One of the takeaways was improving communication to the public about the joys of adopting seniors. \u201cWe need to think about senior dogs more broadly,\u201d she explains. \u201cA dog who\u2019s 7 probably has a lot of different characteristics and needs than a dog who is 14.\u201d<\/p>\n What can YOU do?<\/em><\/p>\n The post Giving Senior Dogs a Second Chance<\/a> by Lauren Katims<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1.5-600x485.jpg.optimal.jpg\")
Partnering With Shelters<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2-600x369.jpg.optimal.jpg\")
Covering Medical Costs<\/h3>\n
Educating the Public<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1-e1628535624210-600x442.jpg.optimal.jpg\")
#PawsForThisCause<\/h3>\n
\n
A Network of Foster Homes<\/h3>\n
Partnering With Shelters<\/h3>\n
Covering Medical Costs<\/h3>\n
Educating the Public<\/h3>\n
#PawsForThisCause<\/h3>\n
\n