I have a soft spot for senior pets, if you couldn’t tell. I love their deliberate steps (assuming it’s not a reflection of undertreated arthritis!), their thoughtful glances, their calmness. Being a senior pet is to have mastered the art of good pet-dom: I am your faithful companion and I no longer feel the need to eat your shoes.
I’m featuring my favorite rescue today, Retrievers and Friends of Southern California. As the folks from whom I adopted both Emmett and Koa, they have a special place in my heart, though there are thousands of similarly wonderful rescues the world over.
On their front page they have a story about a 14 year old beagle who found a new home. When you hear why the dog was relinquished I think you’ll know why this was such a huge deal for the rescue and the dog. I can only imagine the heartbreak the owner must have felt when she relinquished Leah.
No pet appreciates the value of the human-animal bond more than a senior who has experienced it already. No pet is more grateful for a chance to have it again than one who has had, then lost, the love of a human whom they adored.
And that is the joy and heartbreak of pets, isn’t it? No matter how awful or mean or just human we are, they still love us.
Look at this dog. What a smile. 
“This is Miss Sierra, a 9 year old Labrador Retriever. Miss Sierra is wonderful gal. She is very sweet and good with the other dogs in her foster home. She likes walks and she is also very good with kids. She is very friendly and will make a wonderful companion.”
That is a dog with a lot of love to give. Now my husband is shaking his head at me. I know, I know. She will find a good home, I have faith.
I’ll leave you with something I also found on the website. It doesn’t have an author attribution so I’m not sure who wrote it, but it is so great I wanted to share it with you all.
When we provide this for another living being, we transform the world.
Here in this house…
I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs “out there”.
I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed.
I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I’ll eat.
I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat.
I will feel the sun’s heat, and the rain’s coolness, and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose.
My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.
Here in this house…
There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level.
I will be talked to and even if I don’t understand, I can enjoy the warmth of the words.
I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many.
My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!
Here in this house…
I will never be a substitute for anything I am not.
I will never be used to improve people’s images of themselves.
I will be loved because of who I am, not someone’s idea of who I should be.
I will never suffer for someone’s anger,impatience, or stupidity.
I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all.
If I do not learn my lessons well, my teachers will blame themselves, not me.
Here in this house…
I can trust the arms that hold, hands that touch…knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me.
If I am ill, I will be doctored.
If scared, I will be calmed.
If sad, I will be cheered.
No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value.
I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, or too unruly, or not cute enough.
My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought.
I will learn that my humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.
Here in this house…
I will belong.
I will be home.
I’m smiling and crying at the same time.
Me too!!!
This is why I always cry when I read your blog! (In a good way!) Thanks for sharing that, it’s a beautiful expression of pet love. 🙂
OMG, the tears!!! But this is great — if you find the author please let me know, as I’d like to use it on my upcoming website. 🙂
I will hold good thoughts about Miss Sierra finding a good home soon too! I have to share (hopefully) good news about the 6 YO Rott mix at my favorite shelter that I have been rallying for (tweeting, emailing, telling everyone about) during this LAPW now has an adoption pending!! 🙂 I emailed the shelter this morning, pulling out all stops for him to find a home this week, and told them I would sponsor his adoption fee if there was a good prospect interested in him, and they emailed me back saying they are doing all the background checks now on someone who applied to adopt him. Keep your fingers crossed!
omg. ur makin me BAWL over here!
sniffle… it’s extremely heart-warming…
AWESOME story about Leah and I have full confidence that Miss Sierra will find a home, too. Who could resist that smile? If I didn’t live almost 2,000 miles away . . .
Loved, “here in this house”… Seniors are the saddest rescues of all…
As I read your story, I glanced over at my eight year old standard poodle rescue, Gordy. He was lying stretched out on the floor, in the sunshine and had the biggest grin on his face! I sent you an email about his history and adoption. May there be many rescues that In This House applies to.
Stop making me cry!!!
I want Miss Sierra. She is such a sweetie! I wish I lived closer to California, I was allowed to have 2 dogs, and um, yes, that my current dog wasn’t a cannibal.
A couple of years ago my mother, who is in her 80s, adopted a 10 year old husky. He was red and white and his former family called him d-o-g. Over the years he had been beaten by humans and dogs alike. When he was picked up by the dog catcher that last time, his family couldn’t be bothered to pick him up. The shelter was skeptical of sending a husky home with an 80 year old woman, but the family had had many over the years and we fell in love with him instantly. We brought him home and called him Dio. We taught him to eat treats and play with toys. We all took him walking with our respective dogs. He never met a dog or human he didn’t consider a friend, amazing considering his past. He was the sweetest dog. Mom only had him for 10 months. We’re so glad that we could make last months so happy, but we stll miss him. He was the best.
My sweet puppy turns 11 today.. and I hope you don’t mind I shared the “poem” at the end of your blog on mine.
http://dahnksblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/very-sweet-happy-birthday.html
Thank you for being an inspiration!
I am going to print this poem on nice paper and frame it so I can hang it above my dog’s bed in our room as a reminder every day of what he deserves. Not that he’s lacking for anything in this world…. Bailey might be the most spoiled creature to have ever walked the earth. He is my very first dog and is so special in my heart that I doubt any other pet will be able to replace him when his time comes to go wait for me in Heaven. Bailey is six and a large breed so he’s kind of a senior doggy although you would never in a million years guess it by his demeanor or the way he carries himself. He still has all the energy of the 2 1/2 year old bouncy, crazy, funny boy we adopted almost 4 years ago! I tell him every time I find a new white hair on his muzzle, “Don’t be old, buddy boy, I need you forever.” 🙂