Adopting A Special Needs Dog
A while back I was speaking with Dogster member Ron about his pup Takoda, a special needs dog. I asked if he would like to do an article on what it’s like to adopt a special needs or older dog. What you bring to their lives, and the unbelievable joy they bring to yours.
I recently received Ron’s response and it seems like the perfect post as American Humane’s Adopt-A-Dog Month comes to an end.
I guess you could say that research started when my wife and I adopted Takoda. Like Logan, he was a stud dog in a Puppy Mill, used and abused for the first three years of his life and then ready to be tossed away, along with four other Dobermans, when the people who owned the Mill decided they were no longer of use and were ready to toss them to a Kill Shelter. Thank God a Rescue Group heard about that and promptly rescued them all. If that hadn’t happened, we never would have known how much love a Rescued and Adopted dog, be it a Senior or Special Needs, has to give.
I wanted to really be able to tell you exactly what was needed to adopt that Special Needs, or Senior, dog so I joined several different groups to see what others had to say. I just wanted to read the posts and see what was being said from the heart, not from the mind. What I wanted was their feelings and comments that were spontaneous, not thought out. Those reasons and feelings that came from deep within.
I’ve been visiting, reading and taking notes for quite a while now and just knew a pattern would start forming rapidly. Well, after all this time that hasn’t happened. From what I read in all those posts, there really wasn’t anything specific about the people who adopted a Special Needs or Senior dog, they varied from young to old, from those with the ability to give the best of care to those who would have to scrounge a little to take care of their pet. There just didn’t seem to be anything specific that was needed.
True, it would be nice to have some extra time to share with a Special Needs, or Senior, dog but that wouldn’t be a necessary requirement. It really isn’t the time you share but the quality of the time spent together. Showing and letting that dog know how much they are wanted and loved and also being able to accept the love and devotion they give in return.
While it would be nice to have the ability to shower that Special Needs, or Senior dog, with toys, fancy beds and all the treats they would like, again that isn’t a requirement. Showering them with love, devotion and your company is all they want. Just having you as part of their life is more then enough. It’s the feelings, the love they feel, from and for you that matters.
I was starting to get a feeling for what I wanted to write and then I read your Tribute to Logan. That made me realize that there is something you need to adopt that Senior, or Special Needs, dog, something that money just can’t buy. Something everyone can have, if they just open their hearts and try. That something is a big heart.
True, a Senior dog is really an ideal candidate for human seniors, there is so much difference between them and a pup. They usually are house-broken and trained ( maybe not thoroughly but somewhat ) , more settled in their ways ( not hyper-active ), more willing to lay back and relax and a lot more things that suit the senior lifestyle. But, the same things that make it ideal for a senior to adopt also applies to a younger person who doesn’t have the necessary time to devote to training a younger dog.
True, a Special Needs dog will require more care and attention but if you can give them that, then you really need nothing special. Again, they can be ideally suited for a Senior since, like me, they have more time to devote to the dog. In Takoda’s case, being blind when we adopted him, he has bonded so tight to me ( my wife still works and is gone most days ) it is easy to see that I have become his eyes. He wants to be with me at all times and I guess that could present a problem for some people but he does get on just fine when he’s alone. Here I believe the main thing is not babying the dog but realizing they can usually get along just fine, on their own, if you just give them a chance.
I believe most anyone would get along just fine with a Senior or Special Needs dog, as long as they don’t let those facts overwhelm them. Just because they are a little old, or have a health problem, doesn’t mean they can’t give you love and devotion like any other dog. In fact, that is one thing I did find from the groups I joined. Most comments concerned just how much love and devotion the owner receives from their dogs. Be it a Senior or Special Needs, every owner told stories of the amount of love and devotion their dog gives. That’s why I say the only thing you really need, the one thing that will make adopting that Special Needs or Senior dog, is a Big Heart.
Why? You’ll need it to store all that love and devotion you’ll receive and all of the memories you’ll have and share. Your heart will grow larger with every one you adopt. Everyone you share a part of your life with and they share a part of theirs with you. So many memories, so many wonderful memories, that when the time comes and they make the Journey to the Bridge like all our pets do, the love, devotion and memories they leave behind will easily ease the pain of losing them. Your heart will grow larger with each new pet and the tears will always flow when they leave but those tears will make the love grow stronger and the willingness to accept the pain of losing them easier to accept.
No matter how many tears fall, they will never erase the love and devotion, the memories those Senior and Special Needs dogs leave in your heart. Yes, you need a very big heart to adopt a dog like that but just the willingness to adopt that first one will get your heart growing. Share the love and you too will have a Big Heart, a Very Big Heart.
Thank you Ron for sharing your story, and hopefully inspiring others to go out and adopt a special needs or senior dog.
Adoping those who need…. and those who are older has a simple basic truth about life in it.
Beauty isnt on the outside .. it is in the diaphanous wisp we call the Spirit. It lives inside us… and those who need us most are full to welling with that inner beauty.
I wrote this in a diary a little while back
” …… Those with no voice can speak with the voice of one who had.
Those with no sight , shall see with the eyes of one who had.
Those with no hearing, shall hear with the ears of one who had bigggg ones !.
That is the point… we.. who survive and live blessed lives shall be the concience and voice of those who cannot do it for themselves.
They can’t throw us away .
Say it LOUDER ……
THEY CAN’T THROW US AWAY !!!!
THEY CAN’T THROW US AWAY !!!!
THEY CAN’T THROW US AWAY !!!! … ”
And they can’t… because souls like Ron and Lisa and Horst… and the countless others out there who CARE … wont let it happen.
My pal Flicka (HUGS) – that is one of my favorite diary entries ever!!
Adopting any dog requires a big heart – especially the ones with no training, the seniors, and the special needs. THANK YOU to all those who find the time and the love to adopt them, and spread the word about how fulfilling it can be!!
Thanks Horst for Ron’s story. As a pet sitter I see a lot of rescue dogs and they can’t be beat. I know that some people are hesitant to adopt a senior dog, but Ron’s letter shows just how worthwhile it is. The love that they give back is helps us all grow as human beings.
There seems to be a special group of folks that love specials needs and seniors. We love our senior dogs. That’s what we like to rescue.
The extra time is never a burden and we love their little quirks. I would love to know what groups you joined.
Thanks for a great article.
Jen
Jen
Our two shelter dogs are both somewhat special needs- Levi was born deaf and was adopted at 3 months. People STILL don’t believe he’s deaf.
Cocobear was an older dog rescued from a hoarder. Sadly, we don’t know how old he is, but we hope we have many years with him.
These two dogs have the biggest hearts of any of the dogs we’ve owned. I swear they know they’ve been given a second chance (and in Levi’s case, a few more chances). We would not hesitate to adopt or recommend adopting dogs exactly like these two amazing boys.
Special needs dogs are just that- SPECIAL.
We adopted Tyler from a boarding kennel where he had been left as a product of a divorce. With two children and pregnant with the third, it was ideal to adopt an older dog. He was pretty well housebroken; just needed to learn the lay of the land. He wasn’t all the work of a puppy. I would truly say that of the four dogs I have had in my adult life, he was the easiest to transition. He just moved in and acted like he had always lived here. Unfortunately, we only had 4 years with him, but we created wonderful memories during that time. I would not hesitate to adopt an older dog again.
Horst & Ron, thank you for this wonderful post/article. I’ve recently been giving consideration to perhaps dog adopting at some point in the future, though had not considered a special needs dog.
After 18 & 14 years, my two ‘boys’ passed away this year – one (’R') as a result of old age, and one (’H') b/c of an inoperable brain tumor. Through old age R was blind for a year before his passing in March and, because of the tumor, H became a special needs dog throughout the same year as his eyes, limbs, coordination & body deteriorated to the point where we were forced to make ‘the decision’ at the point we felt he was suffering. It was a very different year when the boys became ’special needs’ and yet looking back, if it’s possible, I think I bonded even more with them over that time. Perhaps that is why the loss has hit me so hard. The loss of both boys has been…devastating, is really the only word I can come up with. There really just are no words to explain how it has affected all aspects of our life so I won’t try.
So with that said I, respectfully, have to disagree with one comment Ron made that “memories they leave behind will easily ease the pain of losing them”. My boys brought me immeasureable joy and I have enough loving memories to go from here to the Bridge and back 100 times but with Oct 24th came the one year anniversary of H’s passing and I have yet to feel any ease of pain of the loss or acceptance. I awake each day hoping time will fast forward to this place of acceptance. I hope it comes soon but for now, it eludes me.
I believe the passing of a dog takes with it a piece of your heart which you can never get back. Given the size of my heart (for it must surely be pumpkin-sized with love by now) adoption may be in my future and if so, I will be reminded of Ron’s article and give consideration to a special needs dog. Ron, thank you for giving me much to think about and for your own big heart in rescuing special needs dogs! Blessings to you and your wife.
Deb,
I am so sorry for your loss, losing one is bad but two in the same year has to be devestating. My heart goes out to you.
You are right, the passing of any pet does take a piece of your heart but I have found the next one makes your heart grow larger. The times spent with him, or her, making new memories and bringing back old, sharing time together in much the same way as you did with the one you lost, you find those memories really do help ease the pain.
Right now, those memories bring about pain because you have no other pet to share them with. If you had another, those memories would bring tears again but they are tears of love and happiness.
When I look at Takoda, even when I first looked at Takoda on his web page, I just knew Thor was responsible for me doing so. We have seen so much of Thor in the little things Takodas does, he has to be getting inside help.
Yes, I can still look at Takoda and think of Thor and have tears come to my eyes but now they are tears of joy. I realize Thor is in a better place, running and playing again, but part of him is laying right here beside me now.
Maybe when your pet goes to the Bridge, part of them come back inside the heart of the new one you adopt.
God Bless and I hope the healing process continues and you find love and happiness in another dog.
I agree with Ron completely! Kenzie was born deaf and when we first went to see her at the shelter we were not aware of this but it did not stop us from adopting her – she acts just like any other dog, and we treat her the same – she has overcome her disability and lives a normal life, and we quickly learned not look at her deafness as a handicap but simply found other ways to make it easy for her to understand what we wanted! Baxter is also a special needs dog with hind end paralysis, he teaches me daily to not worry about life’s struggles – together we overcome many obstacles daily, with patience and a few laughs along the way. We focus on living each day to it’s fullest and I am so grateful to both of them for filling my heart and home with love.
When are we, as a civilized country, going to put a stop to this type of breeder – and worse?