Dogs for your dotage!

If I’m still active I’ll still have a corgi or two - but they need so much exercise and mental stimulation that it really depends.

I quite fancy a Tibetan spaniel when in at the stage of sitting at the window and watching the world go by, as they quite like that too. Probably revert back to my first love of terriers, and have a Norfolk or two.
 
Indy said:
I like Yorkshire Terriers, you don't really see them anymore, i think there popularity has dwindled
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Yes, pocket bullies have taken their place 😂

If you find a short haired smooth coated Yorkie, I would love one of those. Their coats put me off ...
 
Tiddlypom said:
A girl at work had a Yorkie. Lovely little dog, but they couldn‘t let her out in their back yard on a windy day as she would get blown clean over 😳.
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Sorry, entirely inappropriate laughter but I have visions of this little hair ball being blown around the garden like tumbleweed. 🤭 😅
 
I have a couple of ageing small dogs, a whippet and a terrier thing, and last year added forward planning puppy lurcher, who is hopefully going to grow out of being entirely mad VERY SOON…….she should take me into my seventies, and after that it’ll be elderly small rescue whippets or lurchers, I should think. Certainly no more puppies.
 
Moobli said:
I have working line GSDs and border collies. When I’m older I will still have the same breeds but would like to rehome the elderly ones in rescue that get overlooked for the youngsters.
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I don't want anything I will fall over so that rules out small dogs. It would have to be friendly to just about everyone because if you were taken into hospital etc someone/anyone would need to be able to deal with it. The carers would need to be able to get in without either being savaged or the dog running out of the door, It would have to be small enough to lift into a car by a elderly person to get to the vet in a hurry.

For me it would have to do the one job I require a dog for which is to alert me to people around. When I'm in the yard at night alone I need the dog to tell me who is around. (there shouldn't be anyone) and the same in the house

my last BC was perfect by the time she got to about 6 but I have known some totally neurotic ones being sent to BC rescues. I fell in love with a tiny GSD ex puppy farm breeding bitch who fulfilled all the requirements. Anything larger on a GSD could be heavy to lift. Older GSDs are not without problems and vet fees are astronomical. There would be no way of knowing what a puppy farm bitch was carrying. I doubt she would have had hip/elbow tests from that environment.

mu neighbour took on a 4 yo GSD from a shelter where the owner had died. Dog had been confined to a large garden most of it's life. It has not been an easy dog, cannot be let of the lead, and came with health problems he probably didn't realise. Other than it's family if anyone had to break into the house in an emergency then, other than me, there would be a real problem needing a dog handler. It is now 12 and he has given it a brilliant life, paid a fortune in vet fees and can only cope as he previously walked young police dogs. A very lucky dog.

I'm not sure how much the mental heartbreak of losing an old GSD rescue would be equalled by giving it a good final piece of life.

I had thought about a sheltie, small lassie collie or eurasier. Those probably depend on if I can still use a rake.

OTOH with a Newfie or similar I could support myself against it which would dispense with a zimmer frame. 🤣

It is a question I had thought about when I lose my current GSD.
 
Smitty said:
Yes, pocket bullies have taken their place 😂

If you find a short haired smooth coated Yorkie, I would love one of those. Their coats put me off ...
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Most Yorkies are smooth coated and you can just get them trimmed! Ours goes to the groomers 3/4 times a year for a puppy trim. We want him to be a dog not a flying carpet like the show ones 😂
 
Smitty said:
Yes, pocket bullies have taken their place 😂

If you find a short haired smooth coated Yorkie, I would love one of those. Their coats put me off ...
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You will have all day every day to trim its long coat when you are old, not sure the fingers would be up for working s issues though- mine are already getting buggered
Cortez said:
I have a couple of ageing small dogs, a whippet and a terrier thing, and last year added forward planning puppy lurcher, who is hopefully going to grow out of being entirely mad VERY SOON…….she should take me into my seventies, and after that it’ll be elderly small rescue whippets or lurchers, I should think. Certainly no more puppies.
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Ha ha ha, Maz is still nuts and she is about 10, the last one was still full of running when she had to be PTS and she wasn't an old dog
 
In Oz I used to look after the miners dogs when they were on 7/7 (days) or even 48/48 (hours) contracts. I had a blue heeler, fabulous dog but not old person material, and an Australian terrier called Muffin. She was just absolutely perfectly amazing. If yorkies are like them I’ll have one.
IRL probably just older labs, a rescue older lab would be perfect.
 
Aperchristmas said:
I'll have something small & scruffy - they'll bark as much as I will in my old age! It's a development from large & scruffy that I currently have. That said I'm considering taking on a rescue lurcher or whippet type in the next few years - not my typical kind of dog but I think might suit my current lifestyle. If I take to the sighthounds, then who knows what I'll end up with!
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Sighthounds are the best!
 
Indy said:
I like this little man

www.yorkie-owners.co.uk

Yorkshire Terrier Dogs And Puppies For Adoption | Yorkie Owners

Yorkshire Terrier dogs and puppies for adoption, rehoming and rescue - find Yorkies in need of a new home from trusted owners and rescue groups on the UK's dedicated breed site
www.yorkie-owners.co.uk www.yorkie-owners.co.uk
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He is very like my Moti. In looks and in nature. He adores our family but can be funny with unknown dogs and people. He is brilliant with our granddaughter who has a real bond with him but I am wary of him with new children as he objects very much to being grabbed/cuddled against his will. (Rightly so! but he is the sort of dog kids love to cuddle). Granddaughter is good at reading his body language. I think Moti is either a JRT x Yorkie or an Australian Terrier. He is vocal and terrier like but loving and can be anxious. He will be an ideal companion if I can clone him for when I am in my late 70s.(He'll be gone by then :-( )
Any terrier is a great companion though
 
We had a pair of JRT's - never again! So that's terriers out of the equation:D

We downsized when we went back to Labs from Rotties, although it was more because of their health than their size, so we will probably stick with them.
If the need arises they will live with our family members and having seen how my late father's health deteriorated after his last dog was pts and he said 60 yrs of regular dog walking was enough, I certainly don't want to be without a dog unless it's absolutely unavoidable.
 
misst said:
PaS I guess they are an acquired taste! :cool:
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Oh they were lovely dogs, made us laugh and swear in equal amounts, had excellent recall on walks but escaped at every possible opportunity from home and the ears just switched off. They were a nightmare to housetrain and were never truly reliable, which was a family trait (breeder was a family friend). But they were a never to be repeated experience:oops:
 
Pearlsasinger said:
They were a nightmare to housetrain and were never truly reliable, which was a family trait (breeder was a family friend
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😂😂 This almost reads like the family friend was also a nightmare to housetrain and was never truly reliable. 🤣 I really must get out of the habit of skim reading posts!
 
Yes, well my Cavalier put me off dogs with hair that grew for good!! Used to hack his hair off with scissors and he looked dreadful but honestly, it's easier to have one that just sheds 😅
 
I've downsized quite significantly from my Bernese Mountain Dogs via Flat Coats, Border Collie and now a Springer. He may be our last dog (says the person who was looking at another springer yesterday....). I wouldn't want smaller or hairier and although love retired greyhounds would be cautious if we could hold one if he/she decided to go during a walk in our dotage. They're also a bit too bony for me - prefer something a bit cuddlier.
 
malwhit said:
I have said that Lola would be my last dog, as if she lives into her teens I will be over 70😡
But as she would be used to other dogs, it would be cruel not to get a companion when my older one pop off👿
I always like to forward plan for my next dog, looking for replacements before the older ones die. Bringing a puppy home usually gives my oldies a second lease of life👿
Lola is a six month old Whippet, I dont think I could cope with another. I still wouldn't part with her ....... most days😊
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They are such demons as puppies but very sleepy and easy once they get past about 18months. I always say never again, then gradually forget as time goes by, and do it again!

I'll still have whippets. I'll probably move away from the working bred drivey ones though. My current youngest is a bit of a firecracker and I'm not sure I want to repeat the experience now never mind later on! He clearly has a large dollop of something else in there though. My oldest is a big soft idiot, a bit dim and delightfully easy. Another like him would be perfect
 
Tiddlypom said:
A girl at work had a Yorkie. Lovely little dog, but they couldn‘t let her out in their back yard on a windy day as she would get blown clean over 😳.
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Oh don’t 😂
We live on top of a really exposed hill and our yorkie is x chi so pretty tiny. It’s like a little Vidal Sassoon advert firing across the yard 😳 he hates going outside in bad weather and to be honest I really don’t blame him!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
If the need arises they will live with our family members and having seen how my late father's health deteriorated after his last dog was pts and he said 60 yrs of regular dog walking was enough, I certainly don't want to be without a dog unless it's absolutely unavoidable.
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I'm of the same mind. People tend to deteriorate dramatically when they stop doing things, whether physical or social, so I intend to keep pushing myself for as long as I can.
 
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