Why You Should Adopt an Older Dog
I can’t even believe I’m about to write about *dogs*, because ew, but my female human read an article about a dog who just turned 20, and that got me thinking…
You should adopt an older dog.
Sure, dogs are smelly, and they bark, and they poop outside instead of in a box so you have to clean it up right away or you’ll forget and step in it later and then track it into the house and get yelled at, but if you’re going to adopt a dog, you should adopt an older one.
Did you know that 3.3 million dogs are put in a shelter every year? (Ugh, imagine the noise.)
And that 670,000 are euthanized (that means killed) every year? (Ok, I don’t like dogs, but I don’t want them all dead, and lots of times they’re killing dogs because they’re old, or they’ve been in a shelter too long, and those are lame reasons.)
And I get it — puppies are cute, and soft, and they don’t smell too badly (yet), and people think that getting a puppy means you get to raise it up and it grows up with you or whatever.
I’d like to point out there are way more upsides to adopting an older dog, though.
Pooping in the house? Not cute. Biting you for play? Not cute. Destroying your laptop because you forgot to put it away the night before? Not cute. Are floppy ears and soft fur and puppy-dog eyes going to mean anything when your house is covered in poop, your laptop is busted, and your fingers are chewed up? Yeah, didn’t think so.
Unlike cats, who completely don’t care what you want, dogs can be trained to do things. The nice thing about an older dog is a lot of times they’re already trained, so you don’t have to worry about it. You can just tell it to sit, and it’ll sit, or fetch, and it’ll fetch. That means more time you can spend on the couch just hanging out with the dog, instead of bribing it with treats and swearing when it isn’t responding properly.
Older dogs are also better because they’ve actually lived in a house with people before, so they get it. They know about doors, and toilets (which they drink out of?! ICK.), and beds, and stuff like that, so they’re not going to freak out and pee everywhere the first time you flush the toilet in front of them, unlike a puppy.
Finally, with age comes a sense of self — I mean, c’mon, look at yourself when you were 8 versus however old you are now and tell me you aren’t way better at knowing who you are and what you want now? Older dogs know who they are. The dog you visit at the shelter is going to be the same dog you take home — there’s no bait ’n’ switch deal going on. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). That makes life a *lot* easier. That also means if you want a dog who’s used to other dogs, you can tell the shelter/rescue that, and they’ll find you a dog who’s used to other dogs. One of the rescues the female human follows, Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, makes it a point in their posts to talk about whether or not the dog they’re highlighting is good with other dogs and/or cats, and if they’re good with small humans or should be with larger, post-screaming-stage humans. With an older dog, you know stuff like that. With a puppy, not so much. It also means that if the dog likes you at the shelter, the dog is going to like you at home. The whole “I grew up with the puppy so we’re bonded” thing can totally happen with older dogs — more often than not it’s the human who thinks they can’t bond to an older dog, while the older dog is all, “Human, I love you so much!”
So sure. Puppies are cute, and you can watch them grow up. But they’re a heck of a lot of work. Older dogs *really* need a home, and you can find one that totally fits with who you are, without having to worry super hard about training them ’n’ stuff. Seems like a win-win situation for both of you (but not me, because I still think dogs are gross.)
