Top 10 Reasons to Adopt a Senior Dog

Lucy and Tucker
Senior dogs at For Love of a Dog Jewelry

November is national Adopt a Senior Pet Month.  At For Love of a Dog we celebrate senior pets every day of the year.  With Tucker soon to be 14 and Lucy right behind him, our hearts spill over with love and joy thanks to our own senior dogs.  We also have two senior equine:  Cakes is 28 and Ditty is 27.  To say we are blessed is an understatement.

If you're considering adding a dog to your household, we encourage you to consider a senior.  Here, from The Senior Dogs Project, are their top ten reasons:

1. Older dogs are housetrained. You won't have to go through the difficult stage(s) of teaching a puppy house manners and mopping/cleaning up after accidents.

2. Older dogs are not teething puppies, and won't chew your shoes and furniture while growing up. 

3. Older dogs can focus well because they've mellowed. Therefore, they learn quickly. 

4. Older dogs have learned what "no" means. If they hadn't learned it, they wouldn't have gotten to be "older" dogs. 

5. Older dogs settle in easily, because they've learned what it takes to get along with others and become part of a pack. 

6. Older dogs are good at giving love, once they get into their new, loving home. They are grateful for the second chance they've been given. 

7. What You See Is What You Get: Unlike puppies, older dogs have grown into their shape and personality. Puppies can grow up to be quite different from what they seemed at first.

8. Older dogs are instant companions and ready for hiking, car trips, and other things you like to do. 

9. Older dogs leave you time for yourself, because they don't make the kinds of demands on your time and attention that puppies and young dogs do. 

10. Older dogs let you get a good night's sleep because they're accustomed to human schedules and don't generally need nighttime feedings, comforting, or bathroom breaks.


The Senior Dogs Project promotes the adoption of older dogs; provides current information on the special care that older dogs need so that they and their human companions may fully enjoy their golden years; and documents the strong, loving bonds that people have with their older dogs.   The resources on their web site are too numerous to list here.  Visit The Senior Dogs Project on the web to learn more about adopting a senior dog.  You'll be glad you did.