Officially Unadoptable Howie or Am I a Foster Fail?

Howie, the first night he was in our home

I am not certain how I feel about this, but over the weekend, in a discussion with the rescue, we decided that Howie is permanently, officially, unadoptable. This has nothing to do with the snapping issue (which today has been completely nonexistent) and more to do with the fact that he’s an old dog, with health issues that accompany old dogs. It’s hard when you hear a rescue that specializes in old dogs say that they don’t think they can find him an adoptive home.

Please know that Howie does have a “forever” home- my home. The rescue has classified him as a “Final Refuge” dog (scroll to the bottom- Howie, as the most recent entry, is at the bottom) and will continue to pay for his medical care. And as his official owners, they will offer us support and advice regarding his care, we will be the final determiners of, well, the final decisions.

Keeping Howie with us for the next (I suspect) 2-3 years does not make me sad. What makes me sad is  knowing that even rescues that specialize in old dogs are having a hard time adopting out any dog over 12, let alone one with a few chronic problems. Well, Howie might have more than a few problems- deafness, arthritis, heart murmur, suspected diabetes insipidus, high risk for bladder stones –but none of them are that major. (Maybe they would seem worse if I were paying for the every 3 months kidney/bladder check and we were getting the bladder control medication for the diabetes, though.)

Howie, last week at the dog park

What Howie mostly is is sweet and loving. Everyone at the dog park is surprised to hear that he’s a suspected 13 years old. He may not run, but he trots happily everywhere. He still wants to be an explorer dog, and he loves meeting new dogs and new people.

My sadness is not for Howie. I know what kind of life he is going to have, because I am going to provide it. My sadness is for all those other old dogs who are not lucky enough to be placed with an organization like Old Dog Haven, the dogs that live out their remaining days, weeks, months, or years in shelter environments, without there really being much hope for them to have a home.

Where does this leave us? Well, we are no longer Howie’s foster home. We are his Final Refuge home. So I guess that leaves me with a question- does this count as a foster fail?