Am I too old to have another dog?

Five key considerations

With two exceptions, my wife and I have owned at least one dog during our 44 years of marriage. The first exception was about thirty years ago when we still had two cats. The second exception is now.

Our beloved border collie, Skye, crossed the rainbow bridge last summer and we are still recovering from the pain. We miss the joy of the greeting we receive when we return home, no matter if we were gone for 3 hours or 3 weeks. When the refrigerator ice maker grinds, there’s no mouth waiting to catch the cube that falls out of the glass. We love our friends’ new puppies and still go to the dog beach in Jupiter, Florida to get our puppy fix. Witnessing the bond between the playful dog and its owner moves us and we can explain our longing to a sympathetic ear. And we still have bags of poop and dog treats in various pants and jacket pockets.

But after living without Skye for these 6 months, our answer to the inevitable question we get: “Are you going to get another dog?” now it’s a little less secure, and we’re a little more hesitant to answer.

Our lifestyle has certainly changed. I felt no guilt escaping the terrible Florida weather this past August and September for what I call our “evacuation vacation.” And I certainly don’t miss having to walk with Skye in the rain. But I clearly miss the devotion, companionship, and unconditional love I received from our dogs. In the past, after losing a pet, that alone always made my answer very simple.

So what has changed? The answer is “my age”. I am 74 years old now. Any dog ​​we own will probably live 12-15 years, which gives me almost 90 years. So, as the title of this article says, “Am I Too Old To Get Another Dog?” Here are some considerations I have as I get older.

1. I am too old? I worry that I won’t be able to do everything I need to do to raise a healthy and devoted companion. I can barely bend over right now, so the thought of the killjoy going to water 10 years from now is not a minor concern. Will I have the energy to train the new member of our family? I’m used to a fully trained partner who I can totally trust to stay by my side, even without a fence. Is it realistic for me to accept a young cub and expect it to be as easy as Skye was? What if we get a different breed, a dog that isn’t as easy to train as a border collie? Or we have an older dog that is already trained but now needs to be rehomed.
2. What about my health? Other than orthopedic issues, I don’t really have any medical issues. But what about tomorrow? Could the proverbial bus run me over, leaving the care of a young dog with my wife who is also “of legal age”? Or worse yet, with a stranger?
3. What if I get seriously ill or die before the dog? When we lost Skye, I took solace in the knowledge that I could deal with the pain better than she could. But we’ve all heard stories about dogs whose owners died and the dog was so grieved that he didn’t want to leave the grave. Skye would have been devastated. For many years we were a team. She would be broken. She would feel immeasurable guilt knowing the pain she had caused him. I’m sure she would feel the same way about another dog.
4. What about our travel and other lifestyle activities? When we first adopted Skye, and throughout her life, she had a nanny who loved her as much as we did. We would take Skye and her brother to the sitter knowing they were safe and delighted to be there. Could we find someone else who cares about our new pup as much as we do? If not, how small should we be? As retirees we have almost no other obligations and have been taking trips away from our dogs for 4 weeks, forever for a dog. How long will it be before we can find someone to take on that responsibility for that long? Would we mind the fact that we could never leave for a month or more without bringing the dog? If we cannot leave her for a long period, it means that we will have to take her with us. Well, as I wrote in my article, “Why I’m Thinking About Turning In My Car Keys,” I’m not particularly excited about the idea of ​​going on road trips. And what about flying? There is no chance you would consider putting a dog on a commercial plane as luggage.
5. What about considering a different breed? To be able to fly in the cockpit of an airplane, a dog would have to be small. Is that the type of dog you would be happy with? Does this fit with my vision of a dog frolicking on the beach? Can I be ok with a smaller dog? For over 20 years I have only had border collies. My identity is tied to that breed (I love to say that I’m happy to have a dog smarter than me).

I don’t have the answers. These are all considerations that I think many of us have or will face. A few years ago, when my wife and I bought a new bed, we joked that it might be the last bed we buy. When we remodeled our current home, we said that this would be our “forever home.” Can I just say that Skye was the last dog I ever had? No, definitely not. I love being around dogs too much to spend the rest of my life missing that part of me. It is said that defining the problem is the first step to finding a solution. So now we go to step 2.