{"id":2155,"date":"2013-08-26T10:22:10","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T14:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/blog\/?p=303"},"modified":"2013-08-26T10:22:10","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T14:22:10","slug":"seniors-rock-the-argument-for-adopting-an-older-dog-and-a-scarlett-update-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/seniors-rock-the-argument-for-adopting-an-older-dog-and-a-scarlett-update-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors Rock \u2013 The Argument for Adopting an Older Dog (And a Scarlett Update, Too!)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lovely<\/a>
Lovely Miss Scarlett practices sitting in her cart while her medical issue gets resolved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scarlett \u2013 racing name Water Orchid \u2013 is an 11-year-old red greyhound who lost an eye to glaucoma. She is sweet, calm and doesn\u2019t act her age and was a SHUG available adoptee for about a nanosecond before she was snapped up!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now some who saw Scarlett\u2019s photo may have simply said she was \u201ctoo old.\u201d Most veterinarians consider a dog a \u201csenior\u201d around its seventh birthday. Some shelters may consider these dogs unadoptable \u2013 even when they are healthy and active \u2013 and they may be euthanized relatively quickly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But here at SHUG, we don\u2019t think a little silver on the muzzle or a little hitch in the giddy-up is a big deal. Many of us are proud owners of older dogs. Here are some good reasons to consider adopting a senior dog:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. They have manners, most of the time. They\u2019ve usually been in a home, at least at some point in their lives, and they don\u2019t need a lot of time to adjust getting back onto one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Generally speaking, they don\u2019t chew on you, the furniture, the house (like puppies) or need to go out in the middle of the night to pee (like puppies) or just pee wherever they happen to be standing (like puppies).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. What you see is what you get. As adults, they have grown into and developed who they are. They are a safe bet in terms of knowing what their personality will be when you get them home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. They are generally calmer than younger dogs and may need less exercise. So for a home situation where less energy is better, a senior dog can be a perfect fit!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. They are still trainable! You can teach an old dog new tricks, and with their greater attention span and a few tricks probably already under their belt, teaching new ones isn\u2019t as difficult as with younger dogs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Greyhounds and other sighthounds, including galgos and salukis, are long-lived breeds. An eight or 10-year-old dog still has many years ahead!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. They\u2019re not as long a commitment as a puppy. If you are thinking of downsizing your family in the future, moving overseas at some point or you\u2019re older yourself and don\u2019t want a dog who will outlive you, a senior is a good option.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, then, of course, they simply deserve it. Every dog needs to be loved and part of family. We owe it to our senior dogs to give them as much a chance to snooze on a soft couch as their younger companions. We may have them for a shorter time, but that doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t bring them into our families for what time they have left.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Scarlett<\/a>
Scarlett says: I could get used to this mode of transportation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for Scarlett, she\u2019s getting acquainted to her chariot, courtesy of her new mom, Deanna Swartzfager. Scarlett\u2019s hind end weakness was recently diagnosed as blood clots that are affecting her ability to walk or run more than short distances. Her body will hopefully eliminate the clots over many weeks. In the meantime, she\u2019s getting used to riding in her cart so she can enjoy being outside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We think she\u2019s getting the hang of it. Thank you Deanna for taking such good care of her!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Update: It is with great sadness that we report lovely Miss Scarlett had to be escorted to the Bridge as her condition was not improving. It is so sad when we lose them before their time. We thank Deanna for\u00a0giving Scarlett a chance to find a soft couch and a loving family before she passed over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scarlett \u2013 racing name Water Orchid \u2013 is an 11-year-old red greyhound who lost an eye to glaucoma. She is sweet, calm and doesn\u2019t act […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[37,63,62],"class_list":["post-2155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-greyhoundsgalgos","tag-adoption","tag-greyhound","tag-senior-dogs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p52ryM-yL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sighthoundunderground.com\/http\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}