October is now officially “Adopt a Dog Month“ and what a great addition to fall colors, apple pie and pumpkins (who I believe to be taking over the earth). Here’s a repeat of a post I wrote in June of 2011, right after the first copies of Love Has No Age Limit came out. Since then, over 80,000 copies of the book have gone out into the world, and hopefully, helped a dog settle happily into its forever home.
From June of 2011:
Love Has No Age Limit, the book I co-authored with Karen London about adopting an adolescent or adult dog, was delivered yesterday morning at 8 AM. I pulled up just after Denise had spent heaven knows how long carrying boxes from the truck into the office. (The delivery man’s comment, while first refusing to unload the boxes, was “Do you know how many books there are in that truck?!” That’s a line that will live forever in our office as “comments never to forget.” As will Denise’s answer: “Yes, I do. I ordered them.”) But thanks to Denise’s herculean efforts, there are now thousands of copies of our new book sitting in our office. (But a lot less than yesterday, we’ve sold hundreds and hundreds already!)
But right after it came, I entered my office to find a closed box of the books sitting on my desk. I took a breath and parted the cardboard panels. It’s scary to look at the book for the first time. Is it okay? Color right? Some horrific mistake that somehow passed through all the proofings? But, ah, when you pick it up and it’s okay and it’s good and you like it and all that work sits lightly in your hand? Priceless!
Here’s what I’m especially happy about:
*** Karen and I combined our combined years of experience working with clients who adopted dogs as adolescents or adults, with that of your wisdom, dear readers, and that of colleagues who have spent years helping to place dogs into their forever homes. We have high hopes that the book will not only encourage adoptions, but also increase the number of successful ones. (One research project found that almost a third of all adopted dogs were returned in the area studied.) It’s very clear that there are patterns to the adoption of older dogs, including in some of the problems that arise, and we’ve learned that a little bit of advice can go a long way toward helping families adapt to a new dog with a minimum of problems. Often the problem relates to expectations, and once expectations are aligned, things go much better than before.
*** We asked you and Facebook readers to send in a photo of a dog you rescued or adopted for the cover, and received over 800 of them. 800! Seriously! We loved every single one. It wasn’t easy, but we finally chose a dog named Theo to grace the cover, and a more compelling dog couldn’t be found. Theo was picked up by animal control on a New Jersey freeway, languished in a shelter for months, and is now a licensed therapy dog and beloved friend of Kimberly Wang in New York City.
*** So many fantastic photos, along with heart-swelling stories, came in that we decided to select more of them to introduce each new chapter. You can read about them and see some of their photos on our website.We’ll get more of them up as soon as we can.
*** We set a goal early on of creating a book that was thorough enough to be helpful but concise enough to be accessible. As importantly, we committed to creating a book that would be affordable for shelters and rescue groups so that they could hand it out with every dog they place. I’m thrilled with how it’s worked out: The printer, Suttle-Straus, graphic artist and typesetters, Jam Graphics, all agreed to take a substantial amount of their fee off of the price. We are truly grateful to them and thank them for their generosity. If you feel like it, send them an email and thank them too, we think they stepped up to the plate above and beyond. Because all the actors have been so generous, Love Has No Age Limit, if purchased in quantity, sells for a seriously ridiculous price. It’s barely covering our expenses, but it feels really really good nonetheless. We know how strapped shelters and rescue groups can be, and it feels wonderful to do our part to help dogs, as well as the people who want to adopt them.
*** We have a section on the website to help groups brainstorm ways to buy the book in bulk (when it is the least expensive, $2.88/copy) I’d love to hear your ideas about it. I think the best idea is for groups to ask donors to purchase books and donate them to the shelter. We know from research that people are more likely to contribute money for something specific rather than just cash toward a general fund.
I noticed that the Editor of Bark Magazine encouraged everyone to foster a dog this summer in their latest issue–a great idea that I’m all in favor of. Yeah for Claudia! However, it’s not something that each of us can do, no matter how much we’d like to. In April I had a foster dog scheduled to come to the farm in a few days (excitement reigned!), but then Willie’s injury was diagnosed at the Vet School, and we had to back out because I knew having a dog to play with in the house would make his recovery even more difficult. (The little girl found a good foster home soon after.) I’ll start again once Willie is recovered, but it’s not in the cards for us this summer. But it feels good to have spent over 8 months working on this book… we all can only do what we can do.
What can you do? Foster? If you can’t, there’s always a way you can help those millions of dogs out there who need homes. Be a volunteer dog walker? Contribute money for the general fund? Sponsor a dog? Buy the group or shelter some copies of Love Has No Age Limit? That feels self-serving to write, but the truth is, we did write the book to help, we do have a dream that every dog who leaves a shelter or rescue will leave with this book and that it will help at least a good number of them have an easy transition from “new dog” to “best dog ever.”
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Just back on the farm actually, from perfect vacation to Oregon to visit grandchildren Taylor and Quinne. I didn’t think to ask their wonderful mom, Rachel, about posting photos, so I’ll skip the photographs of all of us in rapture, and just say that being with the grandkids makes my bones melt.
The last half of the trip was spent at the Crater Lake Lodge and in the surrounding national park. If anything ever motivated you to work to save our national parks, this is the place. The Lodge was built in 1915, and was recently refurbished and is a testament to the beauty of stone and wood construction. It’s expensive (isolated and the only place to stay on Crater Lake), somewhat bare bones, but with a lobby both expansive and cozy, and a killer menu at the restaurant. I think it’s the only place I’ve ever eaten that had 1) a great view and 2) a monopoly—no where else to eat) that had such good food.
We arrived by driving through snow and ice on the East Rim Drive, which was closed soon after we got to the Lodge. (Icy, narrow road with massive, abrupt drop offs into the crater. What could go wrong?) Here’s Jim standing in front of the view of the lake we had that afternoon:
But it cleared a bit that evening, and was gorgeous sun the next morning. Then it socked in for a day and a half of snow and wind, just the right amount of time for us to lay low and read by the fire. The sun came out to a winter wonderland on the last day, so we hiked partway up Garfield Peak and had a brisk, stunningly beautiful walk before settling down to pancakes bigger than dinner plates and a view over looking the lake (it’s not actually a crater, it’s a caldera, as you’ll be told repeatedly by the rangers).
Looking north from the Sinott Overlook toward Wizard Island (a baby volcano):
Sun on tree tops, shadows in lake = visual bliss.
Clockwise, from top left: The “Phantom Ship” island in the fog, red cliffs at sunset, Crater Lake Lodge in the snow storm, blue sky and white trees (the sky really was this blue, seriously), a detail from the Lodge and an inch-long icicle resembling a flying dinosaur.
It is, of course, heaven to be home, back to the dogs, cats, sheep, flowers, green pastures, gardening chores, dirty laundry, emails.. oh wait. This is going in the wrong direction.
Tootsie, our little adopted dog who was rescued from a puppy mill, just came up and reminded me that it is still Adopt a Dog Month, and I get three whole days here before I leave for the 2017 APDT Conference in Richmond, VA. I’m so grateful we were able to give Tootsie a home, but we are the winners here. She is such a love. Here’s to your home from ours, and to all the dogs who are looking for a home and a family to love them.
Minnesota Mary says
I love this post! Having fostered nearly 50 dogs over the past 11 years, I can completely agree that there is no age limit to love. Each dog I fostered has their own individual personality. The home that dog is in will either bring out or suppress the goodness in that dog. I have “foster failed” twice now. Once with an eight year old, who lived to be 16, and once with a three year old, who is still with me. I wish I could send you a picture of my wonderful old guy, Glacier, who is curled up in a perfect husky ball around his beloved Kong toy near the end of his life. It is precious beyond words to me.
Often I tell people that, while the dog has unique personality, many things influence behavior. Among these things are breed tendencies, age, training, the energy of the owner and the owner’s ability to provide healthy leadership. Personally I dislike the puppy stage of testing limits and destroying things for the sake of fun. While there is a limited amount of time remaining in an old dog’s life, there is no sweeter love than elder dog love.
As far as fostering goes, rescues always need “vacation fosters”. If I am fostering a dog and I’m going out of town for a set period of time, I shouldn’t have to pay to board my foster dog. There is a need for people to take a dog for me over that weekend or week while I’m gone. This is a great way to get into fostering slowly. You can plan your life around the start and end dates and get a good taste of what it is like to foster.
Your pictures are stunning. I live in Minnesota and am eagerly awaiting our snow-filled season. My beloved huskies and I appreciate winter more than any other season.
Ginny Swartz says
I love Cater Lake and my adopted 16 year old Multi-poo.
Wanda says
I fostered 46 dogs in about 7 years and it was so rewarding. I absolutely love getting photos on FB or emails with updates. I took a break from fostering and then I got a phone call. Pretty soon I was driving to pick up Sully, a tiny Shih Tzu, who was so darn cute. Then came Missy, an over-weight Bichon. She has lost some weight and has definitely benefited from long daily walks. Yesterday she ran around at her top speed trying to get our Irish terrier to race! About 3 years ago I had to put down my beautiful Cavalier Jewel who had suffered 6 years in a puppy mill. She was the joy of my life for 4 years until Cushings took its toll, among other things. Now we have Ben, a Shih Tzu mix who came to us through a rescue. He was 5 years old when we adopted him. He is absolutely the sweetest little man. His paperwork said he was an own surrender because of too many pets. How anyone could send him off from Florida to Minnesota, is beyond my belief. But we are so lucky that decision was made. I highly encourage anyone who is considering fostering to search out a reputable rescue and welcome a foster to your home. Fostering is richly rewarding and every time a wonderful little furry friend finds a new home, that opens up a space to save another life.
Jann Becker says
So, when we combine Breast Cancer Awareness month and Adopt a Dog month, we send the dogs home with bright pink collars?
Kat says
Both Ranger and Finna were adopted from our local Humane Society. Both came to us at a year old. And Finna may possibly owe her life to Age Has No Age Limit. She was a real mess and the resources and information in the book helped tremendously. It gave us hope that if we continued we could get to a point where she was able to live safely among us. I’ve since lent my copy to friends adopting their own beyond puppy age dog and they’ve all raved about it. Thank you.
Trisha says
Minnesota Mary, what a great point about fostering foster dogs temporarily while the foster family is out of town! Thanks for adding that to the mix.
To Wanda: You Rock!
Kat, I can’t find the words to express how happy it makes me to learn that one of my booklets helped you and Finna. I feel like I know Finna and Ranger both now… please tell them how lucky they are to have you.
Jann–I’m going to look for bright, pink collars now. What a great laugh!
Carol says
I adopted a (7 year old)* BC and had him for 5 years. He was the most wonderful therapy dog ever! So intuitve to people’s needs, always calm and happy. His favorite was the “memory” unit and so many of them related to him. His last visit was just 2 weeks before he died. I will miss him forever. Don’t be afraid to adopt an older dog, they will repay with more love than you can imagine.
*I thought he was older than 7 and my vet agreed with me.
Trisha says
So true about older dogs. Toots was about 7 when she was rescued from the puppy mill, and was a wonderful ‘therapy dog’ at American Family Children’s Hospital for years after that. Here’s to your sweet, sweet boy and the memories that will last forever.
Chris from Boise says
The photo of Jim and (invisible) Crater Lake is the exact view I had (not) of Crater Lake several Octobers ago. Still haven’t seen it, as we didn’t have time to wait till the storm cleared. How nice to see what we missed! Must go back…
We and Habi would have benefited mightily from “Love Has No Age Limit”, as she was our first non-puppy and first shelter adoptee. But…that was in 2007, and somehow we muddled through (with a LOT of help from “The Other End Of The Leash” – first the book, then the blog). We now have a well-thumbed copy of “Love Has No Age Limit”on our bookshelves.
People who foster are awesome. The stress of shelter life is so hard on many dogs. Fostering won’t happen in our house as long as Habi is with us, but after, I dream of compassionate care fostering.
Bruce says
I am eternally grateful to Red Dog’s foster. We send him a semiannual update with pictures, with copies to others at the rescue agency who helped out. It seems to mean a lot to them to see that the dogs they placed are doing well.
Over the years we have had 8 dogs as “permanent” members of the household, typically 2 or 3 dogs at a time. The average age at adoption was 3 ½. The youngest was a year (several times), and the oldest were 7, 6, and 5. The older dogs all settled into the household quite nicely and fortunately all lived into their teens.
Ideally I like to start with dogs at about a year old. There are lots of perfectly good dogs whose owners give up on them when the dogs are PITA teenagers. As with human teenage behaviors, this too shall pass.
Trisha, I hope you enjoy your visit to our beautiful but traffic-choked part of the country.
lin says
We fostered a dog for almost 2 years before she found her true home, and before we adopted, I did ‘spa weekends’ for our local shelter — having dogs over for a long weekend. Not all shelters can/will do this, so I was lucky. I’d love to foster again, but I work full-time outside the house, and it’s not fair to ask my husband to be caretaker, so I’ll have to wait until I retire.
I could never deal with puppies. Our previous dogs came housebroken and had wonderful energy levels (always ready to go, but equally happy to snooze)
Chris from Boise says
Another thought. Our last three dogs have been shelter/foster/rehoming adoptions, and two of the three (Bandit, 5 at the time, now sadly passed, and Obi, 4 at the time, now a boisterous 7) have been spectacular dogs (Habi, then 3 years old and now ‘almost-13’, is now a wonderful girl…but it took us a bit of work to get to this point). We may have enough energy for one more puppy in the future (maybe…we’re both seniors, and we know how much work pups are. But…puppy breath!).
We’d be thrilled to adopt a mixed-breed pup from a well-fostered litter, BUT the policy of our local shelters is spay/neuter before adoption, so puppies are neutered at very young ages. The more I learn about dog physiology and behavior, the more uneasy I find myself about early spay/neuter. So IF we went the puppy route someday, we’d probably go to a reputable breeder, and take care of spay/neuter at what seems a more reasonable age. Sigh. May be more realistic to stick with the dream of compassionate care fostering.
Side note: Obi (border collie) was hiking in the foothills above Boise with us this week. We came upon a flock of sheep, well up on the slopes above us. He was happy to stick with us as we passed below them, and fortunately no livestock guardian dogs were around. We turned around about a half hour later, and came down the same trail. Almost as soon as we turned around, Obi was on high alert, racing ahead and coming back (good boy!). We first thought there were deer or elk nearby, but he had apparently scented the flock almost a mile away. When we heard the clink of sheep bells, we leashed him, and sure enough, the sheep – several hundred – were down on the trail and watering in the creek. We made a big loop around them, were greeted by one of the three working border collies and the Peruvian shepherd, and had a chance to see real sheep-work as the dogs moved the flock across the creek and up onto the sagebrush slopes on the far side. Obi was prepared to help…”El quiere ayudar!”…if we’d just let him off the leash. The shepherd laughed, and we kept him on leash for the next quarter mile, by which he had regained his brain.
PirateFoxy says
As I type my feet are being kept warm by Vinny, the dog we adopted as of October 4 this year. He was intended to be a foster, and we’d planned to eventually get a puppy, but after about a week of having him here we realized he was most of what we wanted in a dog without the annoying puppy parts like chewing everything in the house. A week after that, we adopted him.
He isn’t old, as adult adoptions go – he turned 3 by his paperwork last week. My previous adult adoption was 5 when I got him, Vinny is barely out of being a teenager! And he isn’t perfect – but the problems he has with us are things we can handle and work on.
(I say with us because he came to foster because he’d been adopted and wasn’t working out – reportedly he was very hyperactive and anxious and stressed about everything. We were watching for that when he arrived, and honestly I kind of wonder if someone swapped dogs on us somewhere along the way, he’s so different from that description.
Which just means that a dog can fail in a home basically because it just isn’t the right environment for that dog- Pirate was my previous adult adoptee, and he benefitted hugely from spending copious time with my parents’ supremely self-confident dog, Foxy, because he had anxiety issues and didn’t know how to properly dog. I think he would’ve had way more problems settling in without Foxy to look to as an example of what was okay and what wasn’t, and I can see that anxiety resulting in him going back to the shelter. But he worked out with us because we had a good environment for him that let him flourish.)
I do kind of miss the squishy sausage puppy stage, but right now Vinny is perfect for what we can handle. Even if he does like to hog the bed. 😀
Sarah says
I would love to talk to the shelter where I volunteer about sending these booklets home with our adoptees! Trisha, is there any special route you need to go through to buy in bulk for a shelter and get the discounted price?
Trisha says
Nothing special needed, just go to the website at http://www.patriciamcconnell.com and go to Shop. Thanks for helping out your local shelter!