Getting a new dog?

[Alagirl]

:confused: I am at a cross roads here.

last year our pup of 14 years had to be PTS, her hind end gave out and she could not get around anymore.

Everything is in transition for us, so personally, I don't mind not having a dog. Love them, but I am fine without one for now. But Hubby and DS (Dear Son) miss having pupster around.

NOW, I found a lovely looking elder dalmatian in need of a home. So here is the problem. Hubby is a big mush, no, a HUGE mush. Having had to take his dog to the vet about did him in. Having to do similar in the neared future could really kill him! :eek::yes: but I really really don't want a puppy....

SIGH.

Maybe I get lucky, and dont find too many enablers... since it's a dog.. :winkgrin:

Oh, I can make this HR: It's a Dalmatian....they can do road trials which require a horse, either hitched to a cart or under saddle! :lol:

[Bluey]

If your family likes that dog you found, why not?
Since you seem to hang this decision on them, what does your DH and DS think?;)

[Alagirl]

I have not layed the question before them. I found the dog last night, the kid wants a husky, something close to a wolf :rolleyes: (boys...)

I am sure Hubby would like the Dal, but is gonna balk at the age.... :sigh: Like I said, he is a mush, ailing pets just get to him! (he needs to get a fur real pet, me thinks, just put in new batteries...)

[Thomas_1]

If your husband is a big mush then all you need to do is tug his heart strings and "sell" the idea that he's going to be giving a fantastic home to an older dog in need.

If he's like me he'll have a great big "mug or sucker" bit somewhere in his brain that will make him do what you want ;)

When you're ready with said dalmation I can give you advice on driving with them. When I was a youngster I used to work with a guy who showed horses in harness in carriage dog classes.

I've a load of old black and white photos somewhere of me sitting on the back with 4 or so dalmations running with the carriage.

[vineyridge]

How old is elderly? I adopted an 8 yo Dal last year, and didn't even think about her age.

If you want to rescue a dal, contact Dalpal on this forum by PM and she might be able to steer you to something younger. She's who found Dottie for me.

[LaurieB]

If you want to rescue a dal, contact Dalpal on this forum by PM and she might be able to steer you to something younger. She's who found Dottie for me.


LOL, vineyridge, what a great name for a dalmatian. :lol:

[Alagirl]

How old is elderly? I adopted an 8 yo Dal last year, and didn't even think about her age.

If you want to rescue a dal, contact Dalpal on this forum by PM and she might be able to steer you to something younger. She's who found Dottie for me.


12. Our girl was 14 when we had to let her go.

I can still dust off a few old connections I made when Dixie was a wee one. Thankfully, or sadly, no new movies have kept the purebreds out of the shelter.

I am not desperate to get a new dog, but all the things that happened in the last 2 years kind of took a toll on Hubby's sanity, I think.

[CB/TB]

We, too are in the market for a second dog. We have a ( almost ) 2 yo GSP and we love her and th ebreed, to death. Our last GSP and her sister, a Lab/Hound cross were 6 months apart and that's how they left us, about 6 months apart. We'd hardly healed from the first loss when we lost the other. Luckily we had Bella for a few months while the old GSP showed her the ropes and taught her how things should be done. ( Everything except"eat the cat"- they are fast friends. So, we will ( so we say now) NEVER have 2 dogs near the same age. Anyway, we are on a hunt and have located a8-10 yo GSP( maybe older) and she is a peach. Very active and sweet. She's at a shelter and I feel she needs a home to end her days. The age does give me a bit of heartache, but our old girl was almost 14, and was pretty rough and tumble well after 10. We got Bella as a 7 month old- housebroken, crate trained , basic obedience, and wow, what a difference after always dealing with puppies-- which are the cutest things in the world, but all that work! Especially if you will be the caretaker- go for the older dog. If nothing else, they seem so appreciative of a second chance at a safe , loving home. Go get that Dal!

[vacation1]

Your next dog doesn't have to be either a puppy or an elder. A lot of nice shelter dogs out there are 3-5, which is past the nutty teen years but still young - really, in the early prime of life. I'd vote no to a 12-year-old Dalmation as your husband really suffered from the previous dog's death so recently (a year is recently, ime). A 12yo large/medium dog will die in the next 2-3 years, and while he/she might be a wonderful dog who deserves a final home, if I were your husband I wouldn't want to go through the experience of an aged dog's decline again so soon after that last time.

An under-saddle Dalmation?:lol:

[Alagirl]

LOL, I have been wanting the big Dal kind, but unfortunately, it won't fit on the couch...and hog too much og the King size bed! ;)

[vineyridge]

LOL, vineyridge, what a great name for a dalmatian. :lol:

Not my choice. She came with it. :)

[threedogpack]

:confused: I am at a cross roads here.

last year our pup of 14 years had to be PTS, her hind end gave out and she could not get around anymore.

Everything is in transition for us, so personally, I don't mind not having a dog. Love them, but I am fine without one for now. But Hubby and DS (Dear Son) miss having pupster around.

NOW, I found a lovely looking elder dalmatian in need of a home. So here is the problem. Hubby is a big mush, no, a HUGE mush. Having had to take his dog to the vet about did him in. Having to do similar in the neared future could really kill him! :eek::yes: but I really really don't want a puppy....

SIGH.

Maybe I get lucky, and dont find too many enablers... since it's a dog.. :winkgrin:

Oh, I can make this HR: It's a Dalmatian....they can do road trials which require a horse, either hitched to a cart or under saddle! :lol:

Bless you for thinking about a senior dog. They are usually sweet as can be and often don't find homes. If I ever get down to a reasonable number of dogs (up to 6 at the moment) I will adopt a senior.

[vineyridge]

Bless you for thinking about a senior dog. They are usually sweet as can be and often don't find homes. If I ever get down to a reasonable number of dogs (up to 6 at the moment) I will adopt a senior.

Now there's the answer. Get 2! One young one for your hubby and son, and this older one to give a good and loving home to for the time s/he has left.

You'll be doing a good deed as well as giving your family something to cushion the pain when the older one dies.

[Alagirl]

LOL, and there I thought I was safe from enablers!!! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[kateh]

LOL, and there I thought I was safe from enablers!!! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Well then I'm going to do you in. :winkgrin:

For a while in high school I worked at a kennel that served as a "way station" for a boxer rescue-we kept the dogs before they found foster homes. Well we had one old guy named Grant, looked beat to hell and back but the sweetest dog you'd ever meet. I was absolutely in love and desperately tried to get my parents to foster/adopt him, hoping to give him a few good years before he passed. I even got as far as bringing him to meet Mom, who liked him but thought he wasn't going to live very long. Well one Monday morning I came in to find out that Grant had died over the weekend, alone in the kennel. :no: I was mad at my parents for awhile and I still think about him years later.

Please give the older guys a chance. They so often get overlooked for the cute babies. Puppies get adopted fast-seniors end their lives at the shelter and deserve better.

[Alagirl]

LOL, I mentioned it to Hubby a while ago.

'You just gonna get attached then they die on you' but he is open to discuss it... :)

Did I mention that he wants the dog more than I do?! :lol:

If the dog - as promised - really does ignore the cats, we can be fast friends in no time! :yes:

[Sanely Eccentric]

I think it's best to follow your heart and if it leads to an older dalmation, then so be it.

You never know what dog ends up in a shelter and what you might find. I'm bringing home a new dog this weekend. We were looking occasionally for a german wirehaired pointer rescue and then my daughter found this Airedale/Lab?/Shepherd? cross at a shelter. His photo was beyond endearing so I sent her to go check (different city) and do some temperament testing. She liked what she found and took him home. He is apparently quite the find according to daughter, yet he had been owner relinquished by someone who had kept him in a backyard and garage for the first year and half of his life, then turned over to a shelter. My daughter is keeping me entertained with stories about him until I can get there to pick him up. I can hardly wait. :winkgrin:

So in summary, you might look for one dog but sometimes you're supposed to have another. :yes: Keep an open mind and don't forget to post pictures when you find the right one, perhaps an older one with spots. :)

[Alagirl]

Just to add, age does not prevent accumulated loss.

The first to leave us was our 8 yo beagle mutt, 2 years ago, then a little over a year later the older one followed. (I miss the old days of the internet, when AOL was the gold standard! They had a community for every interest group you could think off, all in one place....Started my whole message board addiction thing, come to think of it. :lol::lol::lol::lol:)

[vineyridge]

An internet friend wrote this years ago, and every time I lose an animal I go back and read it again. It helps.

I'm sure she wouldn't mind my posting it here.
A Puddle of Dogged Reflection~

Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies! Sister Lazer is about to testify! Through the halo (by the way, Diana Ross failed to recognize that word and apparently nobody else noticed it either, thus her song, "Reflections" forever immortalized the phrase "Through the 'hollow' of my tears." There could be a metaphor there somewhere about my words ringing hollow, but never mind digging into it now. We shall move right along. Where were we? Oh, yes: Through the halo of my tears, I see a dog that's lost...

Well, we all know from the minute that a dog enters our lives, its time with us is finite. The clock is ticking. Still, knowing the pain and sorrow such a loss shall cause us, we continue on. Time after time. Dogs of our lifetime.

Now, let's get all maudlin, here. I loath it when that happens. I know Carl Maldin meant well, but despite his advice, let's leave home without it. This writer shall not and you readers may not maudlin-out amid essay. I 'm not a card-carrying sentimentalist. If you're expecting me to imbue our canines with anthropomorphic (Oh my. big words. Let's rest a moment. OK. I'm feeling better. Are y'all all right? Good!) schmaltz, you'll be disappointed.

There shall be no gushing over with Baby Love. (Something Diana did manage to correctly pronounce.) We Poodle people get enough bad press as it is. And, while I'm on the topic, I've never once seen a blue-haired matron dripping diamonds and toting a Toy Poodle on her sleeve. As a matter of fact, most of the Toy Poodles I've known would far rather eat bugs, chase squirrels and cause general mayhem.

However, generally, neither the press nor literature has been too kind with their broad over-generalizations of my breed. As I recall, only James Herriot had the good grace to make his flop-botted Tricky-Woo another breed. We shall not name it. Oh, baby love.

No baby love. No schmaltz here. Just the blessing of loving canines for the joy they bring Each dog we own is different and as we go through our lives loving our dogs, sharing our lives with our dogs, there will come that time certain when our dog dies. We are left grief-stricken. Weeping. We are pitiful. We are wretched. Carrying around an empty dog collar. That is the price of loving a dog. (We're lookin' at ghosts and empties, as Paul Simon sang, after Art left. Art was never here but, y'all are likely beginning to smell that.) We knew the terrible day would come. We understood it is worth it. The years of joy shared with our dogs are worth the pain of loss!

If we are lucky, over the course of our lifetime, we will come to love and understand each unique dog we own, and then that dog shall die and it shall cause our hearts to shatter all over again into a thousand pieces. No two dogs are ever alike. People who think one is the same as the next, or that they may ever again own a pup like their last, are sadly mistaken. Their last dog was one of a kind.

Each dog's death leaves a new hole in the heart that never quite mends. If we are fortunate enough to live a long life, (made longer by our canines, let's not forget and also, by reading this ridiculous essay!) we will all have hearts like swiss cheese and we will have lived all our days with God's gift of resounding love, our unique dog. Each one special. Each dog measuring a span of our life and each dog enriching our experience on earth.

Dogs don't care for long goodbyes. Much better is a cheerful greeting. Our dogs do not like us to feel sad for too long. Our dogs seem to understand that life's a circle, like a poodle in a joyful tailspin. (Oh, all right. Picky. So, I got in one tiny plug for my breed!) Our dogs don't wish us to mourn and cry for too long. Much better; a play bow greeting for a new puppy. Much better; to begin again with the next great adventure. Much better; to have loved and lost.

I'm off to play hide and seek. This unique dog of mine smiles when I "hide" in the shower. She sticks her nose in through the curtain just so, to let me know she does not suffer a fool like me for too long and therefore, we'd better get on with the game!

Dogs make us understand life's circle is a renewal of joy. We know that in our lifetime, there will never be any other dog like this one. And, if we are blessed, we shall carry in our swiss cheese hearts the echoes of each dog's uniquely joyful bark and we shall reflect with gratitude upon God's temporary gift of stewardship, each time we see the flash of life and love in our new pup's eyes. Amen, Y'all!

(This concludes Sister's Lazer's evening service, caninely squeaking. Howling Lulu! ROFL) Make a joyful noise unto the board!

LP~