Psst! Spread the word. Now is the time. Time to brighten the darkening days of November. Time to warm the cooling nights of November. Time to think snuggles and slippers and cookies and cuddles.
Want a hint?
There’s nothing more satisfying, more contenting or more comforting than curling up with a good …. no, not a book.
A good old boy or a good old girl.
And these golden boys and girls — all available for adoption — come packaged and gift wrapped in every imaginable breed, shape and size. Their tags may describe them as “senior” dogs, but they’re breathing, barking proof that you are only as old as you feel.
Most of these golden oldies are hale and hearty, healthy and happy. And don’t pass the iron pills to any of these spry and sprightly members of the not-so-geriatric set. Many of them could outrun you in a four-legged race with one leg tied behind their backs. In an age of ageism, age is just a number, and what’s considered a senior dog in one breed is still a teenager in another.
Why, then, adopt a senior dog? For more reasons than you can shake a stick at. Throw a ball for. Or toss a bone to.
Older dogs may know all the old tricks, but they’re still open to learning new ones.
Older dogs are fully-grown, and so are their personalities: what you see is precisely who they are.
Older dogs are like mind readers because they’ve long practiced what their earlier owners preached.
Older dogs slip as easily into a comfortable home and a comforting routine as easily as slipping into an old shoe — preferably one of yours.
Older dogs understand the true meaning of the word “mutual” as in mutual admiration (including love, loyalty and devotion) society.
Older dogs no longer leap tall fences in a single bound, but they still need and enjoy the proverbial walk around the block every day.
And, finally, on a more serious note, older dogs are usually the last dogs to be adopted from shelters, and the first dogs to be euthanized.
With their golden years still stretching out ahead of them, to lose those years is to be cheated out of something most precious: time.
Why, then, adopt a senior dog? If for no other reason than that: time. Time to love them as fully and deeply as they, most assuredly and unconditionally, will love you.
Article by Nomi Berger. Nomi is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with her adopted Maltese, Mini, and has been writing as a volunteer for animal rescue groups in Canada and the U.S.A. since 2013.
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