Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs

Old dogs are the best dogs. I wonder if I feel this way because I am getting old older myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love all dogs, but an older dog is an extra special dog and old dogs are the best. I don’t know yet if old cats are the best cats. Ninja is the first cat Dear Hubby and I have had and she’s not yet old. I am still learning about life with cats. If you’re a cat person, you’ll have to let me know if old cats are the best cats. 

My life has always had dogs in it. My entire family loves dogs. You might even say we’re a bit dog obsessed. One of my aunts used to joke around saying, that besides the damn brca gene mutation, our family must have some sort of dog lover gene mutation too. It was far more amusing the way she put it, but you get my point.

We love dogs. Dear Hubby and I don’t think it’s odd at all to travel from Wisconsin to California to pet sit our grandsons. Yep, that’s what Dear Hubby calls Dear Daughter’s and Dear Son-in-law’s two dogs and two cats – our grandsons.

Update:  Sadly, Ace and Beamer, two of the pets mentioned above, died in 2018, on the same day, no less.

Recently, we made such a trip. We only saw Dear Daughter and Dear Son-in-Law for a few hours on both ends of our visit; we had ten days with the animals. That’s the way we roll sometimes. Let me just say, taking care of an active Weimeraner pup and a senior dog with more than a few medical issues and two cats is fun, but it’s also a lot of work! I have even greater respect for you pet sitters and pet walkers after that gig.

Ace, aka That Mutt and one of our California grandsons, is an old timer. He’s nearly twelve which is old for a large breed. Ace sees no need to hurry these days, so he doesn’t. Ever. He moves slowly. I mean really slowly. He’s got that meandering thing down pat. Old dogs remind us that hurrying is over-rated and often completely unnecessary.

Old dogs are the best dogs.

Naps are serious business, too. As they should be, right?

Just a couple old timers napping.

As I’ve written about before, our golden Elsie and English springer spaniel Sophie will forever hold special places in my heart because they helped get me through tough times. When my mother was dying from metastatic breast cancer, Elsie and Sophie brought the kind of comfort only beloved pets can.

The special memories of Elsie and Sophie and other family pets visiting my mother during her final days are some of my most cherished. Our family pets were not certified therapy dogs, but they were therapy dogs nonetheless.

My eyewitnesses and secret keepers

And of course, Elsie and Sophie were my eye witnesses and secret keepers, the only ones with me when I heard those words, you have a cancer.

More recently, Sophie visited my dad in his assisted living apartment and later in his hospice room, once again delivering the kind of calm and comfort only she could give.

Sophie’s almost twelve now and like Ace, she’s considered an old dog. Her body no longer cooperates as it once did to match her exuberant spirit, but she’s still Sophie in every way that counts. I love her in a way that fills my heart, but also reminds me I should probably begin readying myself for that day – that day which will come far too soon.

But for now, I relish the time, hopefully the years, we still have together.

Sophie is why I see more clearly every day that old dogs are the best dogs.

Every dog that’s made its grand entrance into my life so far, did so as a wiggly, tail-wagging, naughty but impossible-not-to-love pup. Good thing puppies are cute, right?

Without a doubt, there’s nothing like watching your new-to-this-world furry bundle of energy, mischief, cuteness and love nuzzle its way into your family’s lives.

But old dogs are the best dogs.

By the time most dogs are old, they have grown into mature, content, wise, trust-worthy, dignified, faithful companions. But it’s more than these things.

Old dogs have weaved themselves into our lives and into our hearts. They’ve learned to understand, even anticipate our moods, our routines, our expectations, our everything.

Old dogs know us; they really know us.

And they love us anyway.

Yes, old dogs are the best dogs.

Do you have (or did you have) a dear old dog you’d like to share about?

If you’re a cat person, do you think old cats are the best cats?

What kind of pet do you have now, if any?

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