Cut off age for owning a puppy Discussions

Should there be a cut off age for people buying puppies, somewhere around OAP's age, depending on their health.
But have no cut off age for adopting / buying a older dogs

We are having unwanted puppies / young dogs coming into my rescue home, because their elderly owners have died & their families don't want the puppy / young dog.

I have sat down & have roughly worked out that I will have minimum 10 more years with my dogs, fingers cross 15 more years with them, before they pass over to rainbow bridge, which means I be between 60 - 65 years old & my husband will be between 67 - 72 years old.

As much as I love puppies I feel that it would not be fair on us taking on a puppy / young dog, as we won't be active enough to cope, but would be willing to adopt a elderly dog as they just potter about at a slow pace.

I do have my heart on getting a pure white female GSD puppy, but I have to be realistic & am only giving myself until I am 55 years old in finding one, as I don't think I be active enough to cope with a pup once I start getting towards being a OAP.

It's a difficult one - I suppose it has to depend on individual circumstances. A lot of the dogs we meet belong to retired people (like me!) and in general they have much more time to devote to the dogs than a younger person juggling a job and family.

I am much fitter now than I used to be when I had a young family to care for - there was no time for me to go to exercise classes or go for a run or whatever, which I can do now.

I know that my son will be able to take care of any dogs we have, but if we had no family then yes, it would be a worry.

Hi Tina, I feel just the same as you as Zack is nearing 9 and I am 63 I don't think it's fair to take on a pup but I would think about an older dog as there are so many needing a loving home, but we'll see.

I adopted Pereg from the Shelter in town as a tiny puppy when I was 67 years old. I already had another dog and was far from active, being a chair user. I lost my other dog 11 months after I adopted Pereg, who is now 5 years old.

Was it sensible? Was I too old? Do I regret it? The answers are probably No, Yes, and definitely NO.

But - had I not adopted her and someone else did, I wonder whether she would still be alive now as far too many people are not prepared to look after a dog with her condition.

As I don't have children & I don't want my nephews or nieces feel like they got to take on any puppies / young dogs I may have if anything happens to me or my husband.

Have taked with husband at just fostering elderly dogs, instead of adopting them, this way they will go on to another foster home, if anything happens to me or my husband.

If you can't be sure of the fate of the dog after you've gone, fostering seems a sensible solution. Aren't there schemes (RSPCA? Cinnamon Trust?) which will take care of a dog when the owner dies or has to be into a Care Home?

I am sure that Pereg is very glad you made the 'unsensible' decision!

Well no one knows what the future holds, you could live to be 100 or drop dead tomorrow. I've conceded I won't have any more big dogs because the rest of the family are not as adept at training, exercising and controlling them as me but I'm not giving up dog ownership when some days that's the only reason to carry on. I have an illness that could kill me today or render me disabled, leave me gaga or allow to live for ages, The uncertainty of my future is bad enough, to contemplate that future without dogs is unthinkable so I will still have dogs but they'll be dogs my family can cope with should I not be able to. I can't see me adopting/fostering older dogs if I'm honest but better that than no dog at all I guess.

[QUOTE="6JRT's,
We are having unwanted puppies / young dogs coming into my rescue home, because their elderly owners have died & their families don't want the puppy / young dog.
[/QUOTE]
How wonderful would life be if we knew for sure that we would die when we are elderly, the same argument could suggest that anyone in their 20s and 30s should not be allowed to have pets unless they have family willing to take them on, Adults of all ages have just as much chance to fall victim to illness or an accident which would leave their pet without an owner & who can guarantee the age span of an animal.

As long as they are able to provide the exercise and look after the dog needs, I don’t see why not, also I doubt if age of dog would make much difference to some families who didn't want to take a dog on, plus their lifestyles may not be suitable to do so.

Well I will be 59 next birthday and have a 9 mth old pup, life expectancy is around 10/13 yrs....if I though it through I would never get another dog, I intend to get another in a couple of yrs, we can't plan out the what ifs ......a friend of mine is in her seventies, she is fit and healthy and has an 11 mth old JRT , if she thought she was to old, she would have missed out on so much with her little girl

I think it depends on the person.
My dad is 60 right now and he is the first person on my waiting list for a puppy from Destiny and Leo. With Desty being so slow to mature, I´m pretty sure that will have to wait untill she is at least 3 years old.
My dad is battling cancer right now but I am sure he will beat it and I have no worries about placing a puppy with him when the time comes.

Granted, yes both me and my brother would take the dog if something would happen but my dad was in excellent health before his cancer and he is just the type that will get in excellent health again once he has beaten it.

But I met a woman a few weeks ago that contacted me about cleaning her young dogs teeth and clipping his nails and I could have sworn she was at least 10 years older than my dad. But as it turns out she was 60 as well, just in poor health. I ended up going to pick up her dog, and taking him back as she couldn´t drive to my house. That dog was a bit of a nutcase since his mum couldn´t take care of his exersize needs.

There as been cases that they put dogs to sleep if they have medical problems or are elderly, there was big public outcry last year where owner died leaving all her money to her dog & leaving dog in care of one of these organizations, but as soon as they had the money they put the dog to sleep.

I certainly would not put my dogs into the care of the RSPCA if anything happened to me. 'Try' would not be enough of an assurance for me I'm afraid, To me home for life implies they home the dog for their entire natural life (unless it had incurable illness )no ‘ifs or buts’

(Quote The RSPCA admitted that in 2011 it had put down 10 of the 58, or 17.2%, of the animals taken in as part of its Home for Life service.

The RSPCA said that its ads did not give a cast-iron guarantee that a new home would be found; instead phrases such as "do all we can" and "we'll try our very best" were used.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/aug/22/rspca-home-for-life-ads-escape-ban


It added that some animals were not able to be rehomed because of health problems, or because they had an "unsound or aggressive temperament". There were also legislative barriers regarding certain breeds such as pit bull terriers.

Its also known that they put down elderly dogs which would be hard to rehome.

For me no there shouldnt. My gran lives alone and has health problems that make her house bound. Before we got her the little dog she was lonely and depressed. My mum goes daily to do her medications and make sure dog is fed and has water and she takes him for a walk. We have a plan in place for when she is gone. Im glad she has the dog he makes her so happy and she says he gives her something to get out of bed for. Aslong as there is a plan for the dog even if its rescue i think its worth it for the joy they bring their elderly owners

Imagine not getting a dog once you were 60 and you lived to be a healthy 90 year old, all that fun and laughter you'd miss out on doesn't bear thinking about.
My youngest is 10-11 months and when I brought him home I was blissfully unaware of my diagnosis, I live for today because ultimately it's all any of us have.

This is one of them debates that I can see both sides, on one hand I see far to many confused puppies / young dogs, being brought into rescue home because no one willing to look after them once their elderly owners have died, but on the other hand I see the joy dogs bring to the elderly, specially thoses that lead a more active life.
At the rescue home we try to get the elderly to adopt middle age to elderly dog, which most elderly people want anyway, plus their first choices of dogs to adopt are Staffies & Greyhounds, today an elderly couple have come to pick up their 2 Staffies mother & son ages 10 & 8, both dogs love quiet life & just like to potter around garden they not keen on going on long walks, so are the ideal dogs for the elderly couple as one of them can't walk far either, both of the couple are in their 70's

I not saying the elderly can't own a puppy, just think its better for them to have a older dog.

It's horses for courses though, I can't ever imagine owning a sedate dog because we're all a bit nuts tbh and our dogs are too. Pugs are a good choice though apart from the purchase price They live for their people are a tad mental are happy with whatever exercise they get and just want a comfy lap or shoulder to sit on.

i really don't think you can generalize on that one, some younger folk should not have a puppy let alone an older dog, some older folk are very active and can give a(any dog) a good home, plus I don`t believe you can tell propel what age dog that are allowed to own.

its more about the dog fitting the lifestyle of the people involved, if they can deal with a puppy let them have one.

If the objection is down to dog outliving owner, well you cant possibly predict that one.

I must say that at the agricultural shows i work i see hundreds of elderly people some with 5/6 dogs. They come to the shows and compete in the scurry and agility. Gone are the days where the magority of oaps sit knitting and getting a blue rinse. My 88 year old grandad is more active than me. He still comes on events, drives one of our lorrys with a trailer on and works all day on the trailer. He makes me feel like a slob. He has a year old bmd and the dog struggles to keep up with grandad. In general the elderly are much more active than in days past. My hubby is 58 and also runs rings around me and is built like an ox. Hes always laughing that he will be the widow not me. (Not actually that funny though)

Georgina was my 74th birthday present to myself. She was just 9 weeks old and I was recovering from a hip replacement op and still having to walk with a stick. I particularly chose to have another Shar-Pei because they're not too big, are easy to train, don't need lots of exercise and are placid and quiet by nature. Today for example its been tipping it down with rain and even if I'd wanted to take her for a walk wild horses wouldn't have dragged her out of the house .... she might get her paws wet .... heaven forbid! She's spent most of the day happily lolling around outside, but in the dry, on the porch which suits both of us fine

Before I had her I did consider adopting an older dog but then decided against it because I know from experience that, especially in this country, older dogs can come with baggage which I didn't feel I could cope with.

If anything happens to me my son has promised to take her and Sashicat which means they'll be living on a catamaran which knowing Georgie won't worry her in the least as she's such a couch potato.