Are You a Senior? Does That Mean You Can't Adopt From GRRMF?

GRRMF does adopt to senior citizens

As always, we try to balance the needs of our golden retrievers with the needs of the human caregivers.

We recommend an adult dog 5 or older

We recommend senior citizens consider a dog 5 or older. Goldens are very active dogs that can live 10-12 or more years and beyond. We look carefully at the lifestyle of senior applicants to make sure it fits the age of the dog requested (see below).

Important requirements for senior applicants

If you are in your late 70’s or 80’s, please keep in mind the following facts. You must:

• Be physically and financially able to care for a large dog
• Adopt an adult dog
• Have a care plan in place in case of emergency

Life for any applicant life can change in an instant. As we get older there is even a greater chance that a health incident might change our ability to care for a dog, so we feel these precautions are justified.

Safety

Young goldens are very strong and can easily pull an adult down while on a walk.

Exercise Level

Young dogs need regular daily exercise where they can run and play. Walks alone are not enough for most goldens. A tired dog is a happy dog.  An inadequately exercised dog can be bored or destructive.

 Life of the Dog

We believe that a dog is a lifetime commitment. While we cannot foresee every circumstance, we try to minimize the chance that the dog will need to come back into our program and be placed into yet another home.

For more information please read: Spending the Golden Years with Dogs