The Joy And Heartbreak Of Adopting A Senior Dog

Cosmo and Hook came into my life successful nan summertime of 2020. My wife, Delilah, recovered them connected nan website of Frosted Faces Foundation, a nonprofit successful nan bluish San Diego County municipality of Ramona that rescues elder dogs.

She instantly wanted nan furry Yorkie and nan skinny Chihuahua; I didn’t.

Adopting pets successful nan wintertime of their lives seemed for illustration a speedy heartbreak only a masochist would want, I argued. We didn’t request immoderate much burdens, affectional aliases financial. Cosmo and Hook were 10 and had wellness issues erstwhile Frosted Faces took them successful from pounds successful Riverside and San Diego counties, respectively. Cosmo had precocious mislaid an eye; Hook was calved pinch a clubfoot. Both needed contiguous dental surgery.

“But that’s why we request to adopt them,” Delilah said. “They don’t person overmuch clip left, truthful we request to springiness them each nan lovies we can.”

We met nan 2 for nan first time, astatine nan aforesaid time. Cosmo fto america pet him, past approached Hook. He lunged astatine Cosmo, who didn’t moreover flinch.

They came location pinch america nan aforesaid day.

The problems compounded pinch each passing week. Cosmo itched truthful overmuch from allergies that he perpetually scratched himself earthy and unleashed a howl erstwhile we were gone for excessively long, truthful large and haunting that my neighbour thought it was a siren. Hook often forsook nutrient for nan feline poop he ever seemed to find connected our section and successful our backyard.

Cosmo, left, and Hook astatine nan Orange County location of Gustavo Arellano and Delilah Snell.

(Gustavo Arellano/Los Angeles Times)

Hook ever wanted to wound Cosmo pinch his fewer remaining yellowed, mini teeth that Delilah compared to candy corn. Cosmo ever looked for immoderate ace successful our location to effort to bolt away. I grumbled and complained while Delilah instantly fell successful love. But arsenic nan months went connected and they settled in, this canine type of “The Odd Couple” burrowed their measurement into my heart.

Cosmo turned retired to beryllium a saccharine guy, while Hook hated everything and everyone isolated from maine and hanging retired successful nan sun pinch Delilah. Both sat astatine my feet, sphinx-like, for hours during my pandemic-era Zoom calls, Hook waiting to beryllium connected my lap, Cosmo to dishonesty by my side. At night, nan guys slept successful our furniture — Cosmo astatine our feet, Hook correct betwixt Delilah and me.

They came to america vulnerable and old, and our nurturing turned backmost their biologic clocks. Cosmo went from crouching successful corners, excessively acrophobic to explore, to leaping onto our precocious sofa pinch nan vigor of a puppy. Hook’s overgarment turned from splotchy and brownish to poofy and golden. When I asked if they wanted to sojourn Delilah astatine her store, Cosmo would thunder down nan hallway toward our beforehand door, while Hook rumbled behind.

We spent each time figuring retired really to make their aureate years arsenic comfortable and happy arsenic possible. I tin hardly navigator instant ramen, yet I prepared canine nutrient — 1 portion chicken, 1 portion turkey, 1 portion brownish atom and 1 portion saccharine murphy — erstwhile we realized nan canned worldly wouldn’t trim it for our boys.

If I needed to drawback Cosmo, I’d raise my manus precocious to fto his 1 oculus warily way maine truthful he wouldn’t get startled. Delilah insisted that I put Hook successful a babe bjorn immoderate clip Cosmo went connected a walk, truthful he wouldn’t consciousness near out.

It’s arsenic if they blossomed for america retired of gratitude. For not dismissing them arsenic has-beens, arsenic American nine acold excessively often does pinch thing that isn’t young.

But nan deterioration and tear of aged property wouldn’t fto america bask bliss for excessively long. More and much issues — upset tummies, bosom murmurs, pancreatitis attacks — crept successful pinch each passing year. The four-hour trips to and from Frosted Faces for free veterinary attraction became a regular portion of our days.

Dr. Lauren Oviedo, a veterinarian astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, sees patients successful nan clinic.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Husband-and-wife squad Andy and Kelly Smíšek opened nan two-acre installation successful 2016 successful a location they converted into a makeshift kennel. Big dogs enactment successful nan garage, small guys enactment inside, and recovering ones lounge successful what utilized to beryllium a surviving room. Walking trails, autochthonal gardens and playpens ringing nan structure, watched complete by an service of volunteers. A vet session opened connected nan spot this year.

A gymnastics coach by training, Kelly was inspired to commencement Frosted Faces aft she volunteered astatine section animal shelters and noticed owners turning successful aged pets because they had go excessively overmuch of a hassle.

“No one,” she said, “likes to spot an aged canine sitting down bars.”

Frosted Faces said it placed astir 800 animals past year, including immoderate cats. Cosmo, Hook and I would spot happy families meet their caller pets astatine nan beforehand patio, which besides serves arsenic a waiting room for patients and their owners. That’s wherever I met Harry Rivera of Murrieta and his daughter’s dog, Chili.

“He’s been nan top blessing,” nan Marine seasoned said of nan saccharine Chihuahua, complete nan up-tempo popular and stone — Ace of Base, U2, Spice Girls — that Frosted Faces plays to support nan ambiance lively. “I was astatine first worried astir nan care, but erstwhile we came to adopt him, he conscionable jumped up to us, and each my hesitation ended. You spot it successful their eyes — they’re conscionable truthful grateful. He conscionable won our heart.”

“They’re truthful easy to beryllium pinch — they conscionable want to beryllium and relax,” said Karen Brainard of Rancho Bernardo, proprietor of Chewy nan Chihuahua and Charlie nan terrier. “You can’t thief but to want to beryllium pinch them arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.”

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1. Registered vet technician Maira Vierheller, right, picks up Chewy for an assignment successful nan session astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 2. Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, is photographed connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 3. Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, is photographed connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 4. Murphy, 10, has cherry oculus room and a dental cleaning astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Dr. Neil Russell has been caput veterinarian astatine Frosted Faces for 5 years. “We don’t really spot galore good dogs,” nan London autochthonal acknowledged during a sojourn past twelvemonth erstwhile he recovered Cosmo was successful nan early stages of kidney disease. “So it takes a typical type of personification who adopts a elder pet. You person to beryllium giving. You person to beryllium kind. You person to beryllium patient. And you person to cognize that you won’t person overmuch time.”

Hook died 2 summers agone astatine 14, grouchy until nan end. Cosmo was ne'er nan same. He began to locomotion slower and didn’t want to slumber pinch america anymore. His proceeding declined; a cataract dispersed crossed his 1 eye.

But Cosmo ate much than ever and went connected much walks, moreover arsenic they became shorter and shorter. It was arsenic if he knew his clip was coming, truthful he was going to make nan astir of it.

At nan opening of this year, we wrapped him successful diapers, since he nary longer knew really to get outside. In nan spring, he began to rotation successful circles.

Dementia.

Dr. Russell put Cosmo connected medication, but he ne'er improved. The mediocre feline couldn’t slumber much than 2 hours astatine a time, turning maine into a disappointment insomniac. He spun truthful overmuch that I had to put a bootie connected his backmost correct ft because Cosmo wore down his paw pad until it bled.

One precocious night, I tearfully vowed to Delilah we would ne'er adopt a elder canine again. Our bully times were excessively short and nan heartache wasn’t worthy it. I quickly regretted my words aft I cradled Cosmo successful my arms to unsuccessfully calm him down. As I stared into his tired eye, I remembered what he and Hook taught us.

Selflessness. A recommitment to nan outcasts, nan overlooked, nan underdogs of society. A reminder that each bully things extremity acold sooner than we want — and that’s why we request to bask what we person while we person it.

And portion of that is accepting erstwhile it’s clip to opportunity goodbye.

We put Cosmo down successful our surviving room astatine nan extremity of June. The nighttime before, he was benignant capable to springiness america our first afloat nighttime of uninterrupted slumber successful months. That morning, I carried him connected nan aforesaid way he and Hook walked doubly each day, whispering successful his ears really overmuch we’d miss him and that he would beryllium reunited pinch his Frosted Faces relative soon.

Volunteer Mary Arkwright lays pinch 1 of nan seniors astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

As nan vet administered nan euthanasia that ended Cosmo’s suffering, I cooed to him Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” until his paws didn’t flutter anymore. I sang it again past Sunday erstwhile I picked up his ashes, which now beryllium adjacent to Hook’s, supra nan fireplace.

Our location is silent. The beds and nutrient bowls are gone; nan level wherever they ever near messes aft devouring nan grub I made them is eerily clean. We person put down dogs before, but they were pinch america for much than a decade. Four years pinch Hook and six pinch Cosmo wasn’t astir enough.

We’re gutted, but Delilah wants to adopt much elder dogs. We will, but not correct now. It comes pinch commitments: money and time, yes, but particularly emotional. That’s why it’s not for everyone.

Yet that’s what makes adopting a elder pet truthful rewarding. The symptom of caring for them successful their last years is really a privilege. It challenges you to excavation into parts of your psyche you ne'er knew existed and taxes nan limits of your heart.

And it prepares america for nan march of aging that nary of america tin escape.

Cosmo and Hook, convey you for gracing Delilah and maine pinch nan past portion of your agelong lives. Our clip together was excessively short — but nan lessons we learned and nan joyousness we knowledgeable will enactment pinch america forever.