A dog can be classed as a "senior" dog by the age of 6 or 7 years old. Although smaller breeds tend to have a longer life expectancy than larger breeds. The truth is, none of us know how long our dog (or cat) will live for, just like us, they can be very unlucky and have illnesses no one could foresee coming and never even end up being an "oldie."
One of the best decisions of my life was adopting an older dog - here is why..
As soon as I saw Bella's profile photo online her sad little eyes spoke to me, I knew I had to adopt her. My ex partner looked at me and said "she is 8 years old, why would you want a dog that old? She won't be around for long it's too sad." My response was to say "if I can only give her one year of life I will make it the best year of that little dog's life."
Needless to say like most of the time my determination paid off and within days Bella was settling in with my other two dogs at the time. She was very quiet and shutdown is the best way to describe her behaviour. But never once did she show any kind of aggression or anger. She walked like an old lady, and didn't show much personality or affection towards anything, and I did think to myself we could only have months together..
After she had a much needed dental and health check at the vets, and luckily all was well with her, I hoped with more time, walks, attention and lots of love she would finally see and feel the warmth of a good forever home.
It turns out I couldn't of asked for any more from this loving beautiful dog, within months she came out of her shell, she was playing.. and I mean playing that rough and tumble happy
growly play dogs do with each other, she was fitter, stronger, loving her food, and truly living life to the full!
Bella went on to live another 8 years with me, I had to make the sad decision to put her to sleep when she reached the age of 16 years and 8 months, her back legs had given up on her. She didn't suffer at all, she fell asleep in her bed scoffing treats, and although I was devastated and she left a huge hole in my home, I knew it was her time.
The sad reality is unfortunately our pets don't live as long as we do and there is always a time when we have to make that decision or that decision is made for us. So whether you buy a puppy or adopt an older dog that time will always come for us all, we can't avoid it.
Older dogs tend to be easier in many ways to adopt than younger dogs and suit many households just like mine. I would highly recommend and encourage anyone not to look past an older dog, Bella needed me and I needed her, she was truly amazing and I am so happy I was able to give her those 8 wonderful years.
It is 5 years tomorrow since I last saw her, I wasn't sure what to write for my first blog post (having never done one before) however the timing felt right to share my own experience of the joys of older dogs.
In memory of Bella 20/12/2000 - 18/08/2017
Forever my in heart xxx
Check out www.oldies.org.uk
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