Old Dogs and Over Commitment

Yesterday I met a family at a garage sale that had a sign posted, "Free Min Pin." Of course, I had to ask. They were nice people, and, like many families, they were over commited. Their work schedules and sports schedules with their kids were exhausting them and they all felt guilty when they came home late and the little guy wanted some attention after being home alone all day. Their guilt was causing conflict in the family and they were trying to solve the problem by finding the dog a new home. As I petted the little dog's sweet gray face, they told me his story. They had adopted him when their kids were small from an elderly couple. The dog was the older man's companion and he watched tv beside him in the recliner for years and ran errands with him in the car. But the elderly man had died. "Max" became part of the millions of animals that enter the shelter system at 7 years old. This couple had adopted him six years ago and they still had the letter from the widow, asking them to take care of him and filling in the details of Max's life. Now he was thirteen, their kids were older, and they no longer had time for him. There were even hints at euthanasia if they couldn't find a home. The one member of the family without a voice, the one who had faithfully greeted them and only wanted to spend time with them was now expendable. The dog isn't the problem in this family, their overcommitment is. He's just the alarm that is telling them something is out of balance. The only way they know how to deal with the alarm is to give it away. To their credit, they had tried most of the rescue groups in town. They didn't want to take him to the shelter. The problem is, no one wants a thirteen year old dog.

One of my dreams is to create a place where dogs like this can come and spend the rest of their lives in peace, comfortable and pain free. As a culture, we do a lousy job of keeping our commitments to pets, especially pets who have faithfully loved and protected us for years. After years of companionship, they finally need more attention, both medically and emotionally and we just can't fit that into our busy lives. They cannot manage the transition to the shelter system and no one wants to adopt an older animal that needs medical attention. My vision is to start a geriatric home for dogs that does state of the art geriatric medicine, pet hospice and grief support for owners. It will take in dogs that have had a home for years and the owners die or have to go to a nursing home. It would provide day care for pets whose owners cannot manage their symptoms, but want to keep their commitment by caring for them at night and on the weekends. It would have a memorial garden and a small chapel. I want this to be a place where older dogs experience the latest in pain control management, with water treadmill physical therapy to work with arthritis, where it's okay to be deaf and blind and to have dementia because the home is specially equipped to handle those things. Most of all, it will be a home and not a shelter. I want it to be a place where vet students and vet techs want to come to learn how to better care for older animals and where quality of life is a standard, not a goal. A place where vets attend workshops and training for laser therapy for arthritis and physical therapy. Where euthanasia is not the norm, but a pain free, natural death surrounded by love is.

Ok. End of sermon. All I need now is an architect to put in on paper and some money and I think the rest of it will come together. If you know someone who might be interested in this little dog, I have the phone number of the family. Please help if you can.