I had lost my previous dog a year earlier, and finally found myself in a place to welcome another dog into my family. The local SPCA had a dog I was interested in, a 3 yr old boxer mix. I took the drive over only to find out that he was with another dog, an old, skinny skinny dog they claimed was his mother, and they had to go together. Well, I was ready for another dog, but not two, so I left.
I kept checking their website to see if the younger dog was still available and found out that the SPCA had what they called "doggie dates" where you could take a dog off campus for the day to see how they were when not in the shelter. My girlfriend and I decided to take one out to get our dog fix.
We arrived at the shelter only to find that all of the dogs we selected were either already adopted or already out on dates. Needing our fix, we asked the staff to just bring us one, anyone that could use a day out. Five minutes later, they returned with our original pick's mother. She was a 12 year old boxer mix, missing several teeth and skinny as a rail. The story behind these dogs was that they were strays that had been picked up and from the looks of her road-weary body, that was not hard to believe.
Off to the park we went, Coco (her shelter name) was eager and bounded into our truck as if she had been there a million times. We spent the day at the park, had lunch, and took a short trip through the local town. When I say she was a perfect date, I mean perfect. Well mannered, walked fine, never attempted to mind anyone's business but hers.
I still wasn't ready to adopt a 12 yr old dog though, having lost mine at 12 yr weighed heavy on me. That changed after we got back to the shelter where we were greeted by one of the attendants who happily told us that her son had found a home. How could I possibly let this old gal go back to that cage alone? As I sat pondering what to do next while watching her in the play yard, she looked over at us, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to our arms. Well, long story short, we have had her for a year now, and she is every bit the lady as she was that day. A true blessing to us. We've since adopted another dog, a beagle mix, who absolutely adores his older sister and she has taught him well. The moral of my story: Don't overlook the older dogs, they need homes too and have already learned a lot of their life's lessons.
VALRICO, FL
