Adopting Older Dogs

[BarbedWire]

Just having a bleak morning and I am thinking about my old boy who died last year. I adopted him from a local rescue five years ago when he was eight. He came from the local pound. I don't know what breed but many people who should know have said that he had wheaten terrier in him. When I first brought him home and opened the front door for some reason he pushed his way out and took off down the street as if he was going somewhere. I had to chase him and bring him home. This happened a few times. I feel certain he was trying to go home to his family. Then a few months later when I had him out for a walk I let his lead go and again he was off, the same way as if he knew where he was going. He was also always very interested in mothers with prams especially if there were children with them on bikes. After a few years he stopped trying to run across to them but right to the end of his life he always looked hard at young families with prams.

He was a very affectionate dog and easy to have around but I often wondered who would he choose if his old owner turned up. I did feel that he was never truly mine although a few days before he died we had a very close cuddle where he was completely relaxed and I felt finally trusted me. In my black moments I feel I repaid his trust be giving him his wings. In my better moments I know it was time though because his body had given up.

Dogs are known for their loyalty and just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences with adopting older dogs or even younger dogs from pounds that seemed to be trying to go home.

[stellnme]

I've adopted older dogs and had many rescues here. I feel that they live in the moment and adapt to their surroundings after a settling in time, but I also feel that they all come with their baggage and quirks from whatever life they had before. Hence the dog who is scared of men with hats may have been made to feel that way by a previous owner and have an association with that, or curiously, that may have nothing to do with it! As you know, Sars, they all respond to love and good care and I'm sure your boy was truly yours. Even though he may have been interested in prams, etc., I'm not sure what credence we can give that - was he "remembering" something from the past or was he always interested in the movement of prams and children - not necessarily a product of his past ownership.

The fact that there is good success in altering behaviours and training more appropriate ones may mean that past ownership is of less consequence that we think (speaking broadly here as all dogs and their situations are different.)

I guess what I am trying to say is that your dog, after you adopted him, became your dog and in his little world, you were everything to him.

[tdierikx]

I'm thinking the hats and beards thing is more due to lack of exposure to same... as opposed to connecting with a previous bad experience. Seriously, there seem to be an awful lot of men with hats and/or beards mistreating dogs out there if the stories supposed by some are to be believed... lol!

T.

[Vehs]

We adopted a 5 year old dog around 6 months ago and she's still settling in - I sometimes feel that the dogs I mind for money have settled in faster than her, but she has had a troubled background.

She doesn't feel like mine yet mainly because she'll go with and ignore strangers just as as much as she does me LOL *MY* dog that I had from a puppy only had eyes for me.

Even just last night I felt she regressed as she got very grumbly, but that could be because she had to endure a bath during a thunderstorm, she was certainly in a mood.

[JulesP]

Maybe your dog was in the pound because he was an escape artist and liked to bolt. Some dogs just seem to like to escape. I am constantly taking a little SWF home that lives near me. They have good fencing so he must just sneak out of doors etc.

So I wouldn't necessarily think that your dog was trying to run away to get 'home'.

[juice]

People always try and justify behavior, truth is they cant talk and we don't know what happened to them.

Just because a dog is fearful does not mean it was mistreated, it could just be a fearful dog.

I have had a few oldies, some fitted in the minute they arrived without a backward glance, others seemed to be looking for someone.

My old BT loved utes and would try and get into any he saw, he also loved men, and was my sons shadow.

I much prefer mature dogs, they need time to adjust thats all.

[BarbedWire]

Interesting responses. I think the age of the dog is also relevant. I have here another rescue who arrived here at eight months of age. She was delighted to leave the pound and bonded with me when we first met at the pound. I think older dogs remember their past lives; they remember owners (and other dogs) they haven't seen for many years. To a certain extent they do live in the moment but they remember what they were taught many years ago and haven't done since. They also remember places. Some dogs travel hundreds of kilometres to go home.

JulesP, he was not an escape artist. After bursting out the front door in the early days he never did escape from my house again. He was neither a jumper nor a digger. I have had rescue dogs that have burst out the front door in the same way when they first arrived from the pound. I believe that many dogs at the pound would find their way home if they could.

[BarbedWire]

People always try and justify behavior, truth is they cant talk and we don't know what happened to them.

Just because a dog is fearful does not mean it was mistreated, it could just be a fearful dog.

I have had a few oldies, some fitted in the minute they arrived without a backward glance, others seemed to be looking for someone.

My old BT loved utes and would try and get into any he saw, he also loved men, and was my sons shadow.

I much prefer mature dogs, they need time to adjust thats all.

Thank you Juice. The bolded part is what I mean

[JulesP]

Interesting responses. I think the age of the dog is also relevant. I have here another rescue who arrived here at eight months of age. She was delighted to leave the pound and bonded with me when we first met at the pound. I think older dogs remember their past lives; they remember owners (and other dogs) they haven't seen for many years. To a certain extent they do live in the moment but they remember what they were taught many years ago and haven't done since. They also remember places. Some dogs travel hundreds of kilometres to go home.

JulesP, he was not an escape artist. After bursting out the front door in the early days he never did escape from my house again. He was neither a jumper nor a digger. I have had rescue dogs that have burst out the front door in the same way when they first arrived from the pound. I believe that many dogs at the pound would find their way home if they could.

Or they just worked out that trying to escape didn't profit them.

[raineth]

That's interesting Sars. It's so hard to know what's going on in their minds. I know my own dog (adopted at 15 months) takes an interest in professional painters and their utes. It's a happy interest, she gets excited. It does make me wonder if her old owner was a painter. I know a little bit about her previous owners, and I understand the man was very fond of her and played with her often, so I could understand if she'd be happy to see him again. Having said that, she is definitely attached to me, I don't have the feeling she's rather be with someone else.

Interesting to note, we visited her foster carers over Christmas, and sadly it was quite clear she didn't remember them Although partly I think it was just that she was very interested in their dogs.

I'm thinking the hats and beards thing is more due to lack of exposure to same... as opposed to connecting with a previous bad experience. Seriously, there seem to be an awful lot of men with hats and/or beards mistreating dogs out there if the stories supposed by some are to be believed... lol!

T.

maybe with the hipster movement we'll see a corresponding decrease in dogs afraid of men with beards :laugh:

[Loving my Oldies]

I'm thinking the hats and beards thing is more due to lack of exposure to same... as opposed to connecting with a previous bad experience. Seriously, there seem to be an awful lot of men with hats and/or beards mistreating dogs out there if the stories supposed by some are to be believed... lol!

When I was a volunteer at a pound, there was so much “afraid of men” that I figured there could not be so many men abusing/frightening dogs. Totally a thought of mine with nothing to back it up, I just wondered whether it was simply dogs were seeing [smelling] a male who was much larger [taller] than they and they were simply instinctively on the alert.

1. People always try and justify behavior, truth is they cant talk and we don't know what happened to them.

2. Just because a dog is fearful does not mean it was mistreated, it could just be a fearful dog.

3. I have had a few oldies, some fitted in the minute they arrived without a backward glance, others seemed to be looking for someone.

I’ve quoted and numbered the points in your post, juice, that apply to my experience.

1. This leads to so many crap diagnoses by so called experts: dominance, alpha, leader of the pack etc etc etc. Push a button and out comes something, anything to justify what a dog is doing. As you say, juice, we don’t know. What we need to know is that dogs are instinctual beings who come with thousands of years of conditioning.

2. Exactly. This can apply to virtually anything a dog does. It is very hard though when you have one of those fearful dogs. I have had Tamar for nearly 12 years. She was about six months old in the pound, a terrified, shitting and weeing wreck. She is still a timid and fearful dog and still goes to the floor sometimes when I walk towards her which breaks my heart. If she ended up in rescue, people would think she’d been abused.

3. I have had so many oldies, I’ve lost track. They all fitted in immediately.

If you want to adopt and older dog, Sars, go for it, but don’t over analyse. :) :)

[BlaznHotAussies]

I've had a few dogs that have come to live with me whether temporarily or have become permanent and generally they make themselves right at home. There is the odd one that will bolt if given half the chance, but they happened to be of the same breeding. I have a bitch here who had just turned 2 when she got here, she's settled right in and I'm her favourite human. She took a while to warm to my husband because she hasn't had much exposure to men.

I also rehomed another bitch as a 4 year old, they would be her fourth home (I only had her as a foster & to get her desexed) but they love her and she gets super spoilt and is finally getting the love she deserves. She was a bit funny about the wooden floors in our house, but happily hung out in the yard or inside the house with no fuss. Loved attention.

I had a BC who would freak if you threw a ball for him (when I first got him I threw a toy and he hit the deck as though I had just beaten him) - never been hit with anything or beaten - just a ridiculously fearful dog, had been born like it then not socialised for the first 3 years of his life so never learned to cope with anything. The number of times I got asked if he'd been abused when I took him out for walks was so embarrassing.

[Loving my Oldies]

The number of times I got asked if he'd been abused when I took him out for walks was so embarrassing.

Poor you. I can empathise with you and your dog.

I have to constantly tell children not to try to pat Tamar because she is so timid. Naturally, because is very cute and still looks like a puppy, they all want to pat her. If they persist in try to pat her, naturally I walk away.

[mita]

DDD, that was a great post.

In recent times, we've always adopted very mature aged dogs. We've been helped by fact they've been the same breed, Tibbies, who tend to be very tribal. When our last arrival, Annie, was delivered by the pet transport man & put into my arms, she was shaking like a leaf. We walked up the driveway & she spotted our resident Tib standing with the Tib next door. Immediately, she stopped shaking & her tail began to wag. Same with her new 'friends'. They helped her settle in by giving her a routine to follow. Became the best of mates.

[Loving my Oldies]

DDD, that was a great post.

In recent times, we've always adopted very mature aged dogs. We've been helped by fact they've been the same breed, Tibbies, who tend to be very tribal. When our last arrival, Annie, was delivered by the pet transport man & put into my arms, she was shaking like a leaf. We walked up the driveway & she spotted our resident Tib standing with the Tib next door. Immediately, she stopped shaking & her tail began to wag. Same with her new 'friends'. They helped her settle in by giving her a routine to follow. Became the best of mates.

Thanks, Mita. Nothing beats having happy settled dogs in residence when bringing in a newcomer.

[mita]

[Nothing beats having happy settled dogs in residence when bringing in a newcomer.

Agree in spades! Helps when settling in the young, the old & the in-between.

[BarbedWire]

My dog had no problems with men and I have not said he was abused in any way because I think he had been loved. All I am saying is that it seemed to me that he wanted to go home to the place where presumably he had lived for eight years. My older girl is now eight and I think she would always regard living with me as being at home. I hope she would because I love her very much. The dog in the OP did come to a house where he was very welcome and where I already had one other dog who was settled and quite happy to see him and they got on well from the beginning. I have said today was a bleak day because I am remembering him and so wanting him back. Now I feel I failed him. RIP beautiful boy.

[_PL_]

Yes, some sit at the door waiting to go home. They do settle, it just makes me a bit sad. We do use a baby gate to stop any bolters. And are very careful to fit harnesses snugly.

I know comparing animals to humans isn't the done thing but one rescuer explained it to me once in simplistic terms that even children .. no matter if it was a crap or scary or neglectful way to live ... just want to go home, home to their parent/s.

[_PL_]

I should add that usually they end up closely watching then copying the others and settling in. Monkey see monkey do. LOL

And some barely look back at you despite the hard yards we both did with rehab. I do love those moments. Ungrateful little critters. :laugh:

Edited March 4, 2016 by Powerlegs

[stellnme]

My dog had no problems with men and I have not said he was abused in any way because I think he had been loved. All I am saying is that it seemed to me that he wanted to go home to the place where presumably he had lived for eight years. My older girl is now eight and I think she would always regard living with me as being at home. I hope she would because I love her very much. The dog in the OP did come to a house where he was very welcome and where I already had one other dog who was settled and quite happy to see him and they got on well from the beginning. I have said today was a bleak day because I am remembering him and so wanting him back. Now I feel I failed him. RIP beautiful boy.

You didn't fail him. Read the last sentence of my reply again. I'm sorry you are having a bleak day but try to remember the good times with him.