Senior Dogs

While doing some research for my Ten Most Wanted project, I discovered another blog written by another St. Louis area dog foster mom.  It's written by the President of St. Louis Senior Dog Project, a rescue group who mostly focuses on rescuing and adopting out senior dogs.  You can check it out here.  I'm also putting a link to it in the Links to Related Websites section so you can easily find it in the future. 

I like senior dogs - they're a nice rest from the young dogs I usually foster.  The majority of dogs in shelters seem to be around 1 to 2 years of age.  That's the age that families start getting tired of the puppy they got from a friend a few years ago who's grown up now.  The age when the dogs who weren't trained as puppies start becoming problems - the little puppy who liked to jump up and mouth on your fingers was adorable, but the same thing at 50 or 60 pounds just isn't so cute anymore.  Instead of taking the time to work with the dog, people are more likely to develop sudden allergies or find some other reason to dump the dog at a shelter.  So the majority of the dogs I've fostered have been younger.  But there are plenty of senior dogs out there needing homes also, and it's great to have a rescue focus mostly on them.  These are the pets who are more likely to already be housetrained, and don't want to chew up every piece of furniture in your house.  They sleep more and run full-speed around the house less.  Just the thought of it makes me smile.

 

I have only fostered two senior dogs.  One was Benny, a bloodhound mix who we all expected to take awhile to find a home.  He was adopted within a week of me taking him home.  The other is Neo, a purebred Neapolitan Mastiff.  Due to his purebred status and being such a rare breed, he had adoption offers pouring in within days of being put on the web.  He has a family coming from Tennessee to meet him tonight, so hopefully I will be reporting his adoption later this weekend!  So basically my time with these easygoing, calm, sweet senior dogs has been very short.  I'm looking forward to my next senior dog foster. 

All of the pictures of dogs in this post are senior pets currently waiting to be adopted.  The schnauzer at the top is named Shelly and she's from the St. Louis Senior Dog Project.  The Australian Shepherd mix is Cosmo, from Heartland Humane Society.   The white Pointer mix is Maggie, from Tender Care Adoptions.  And to the left is Casey, from All Paws Rescue. 

I love the fact that I can talk about any pet I want on here. I'm no longer linked to any particular rescue group's website, so I have a lot more freedom to support other pets and other rescue groups.  As a new volunteer for All Paws, I was initially concerned that they would ask me not to write about other groups.  But I'm pleased that they've been nothing but supportive of other groups, by word and example.  They're referred adopters to other groups when they didn't have the type of pet the adopter was looking for.  They've also encouraged me to save dogs from anywhere, not just one particular shelter or pound.  They are a great example of what we can all accomplish if we just work together.  So Thank You, All Paws Rescue!  And if you're looking for a rescue to donate to or volunteer with, I highly recommend them. Of course I highly recommend you adopt from them too.  In fact, I highly recommend you adopt from me personally - especially if you're in the market for a cute orange tabby kitten, or a sweet tortoiseshell cat who despises dogs, or a beautiful black cat who answers to Artie.  Or if you want a puppy - I'm pretty sure I know where you can get one or two... or nine.

Advertising Help Needed

Now that I have a lot of free time (with only one foster dog and three foster cats, life is very calm!), I've found a new project.  It might be silly - it might be expecting too much - it might even be a huge waste of time.  But then again, it might help a pet find a home, so I'm going to do it anyway. 

There are certain pets out there, like this guy, who have been waiting a long time for a good home.  You may remember me talking about Kermit before.  He caught my attention when I first started helping with rescue, and I've felt an attachment to him ever since.  He even came and stayed at my house for a few weeks so we could see how he did in a real home setting.  He did great, but because he has some balance issues and he had to navigate stairs to go outside at my house, it wasn't a good fit long-term for him.  So he's back at the shelter waiting for a real home.  There are so many pets like him - ones that are great dogs, or great cats, but for one reason or another they are just passed over for adoption time and again.  Maybe they're like my foster cat Scribbles who doesn't do well at adoption events.  Or maybe they're like Kermit and have physical limitations.  Or maybe they're just shy, or too old.  Whatever it is, pretty much every no-kill rescue group or shelter has at least one or two pets that have been waiting for too long for a home. 

I believe there are adopters out there who would love to give one of these special animals a home.  But they don't always know who has been waiting the longest, or who needs them the most.  And with the thousands of animals in the St. Louis area out there on websites like PetFinder and AdoptAPet.com, they are going to have a hard time finding the ones where they can make the biggest difference. 

Best Friends Animal Society, one of the largest and best-known rescue groups in the country, recently created their "Purrty Dozen" - a list of the twelve cats that had been waiting a long time for homes and that the staff most wanted to see adopted.  Since they created the list in January 2009, seven of these 12 cats have found homes.  That's pretty amazing, considering how long some had been waiting (at least 7 years in the case of one cat!).  Obviously Best Friends has more resources and a wider range of adopters than I do.  But I hope that with some support and help from others, we can make a difference in the lives of a few hard-to-adopt pets right here in the St. Louis area.

I've created the Ten Most Wanted list of pets that have been waiting awhile to find a home.  Kermit is on there of course.  So are nine other pets from other rescue groups.  I hope to get some adoption posters made up for these pets and recruit volunteers to post them on bulletin boards in the area.  I'd also like to add some buttons so you all could share these pets with people through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  If you're interested in helping with this project, please contact me.  I really need help with things like advertising, web design, creating posters, etc, and we will eventually need volunteers to be willing to put up posters at their local library, restaurants, grocery stores, churches and work places.  This project is just getting started, so you can get a sneak peek at the website here, but it may be changing a lot before we're ready to "go live" with it.  I am getting three or four puppies to foster sometime this weekend, so my free time may quickly be dwindling away!

Stay tuned... puppy pictures should be available within a few days!