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

GRRMF will 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 a dog 5 or older

We recommend senior citizens consider a dog 5 or older. Goldens are very active dogs that can live 10-12+ years. 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
• Be willing to adopt a senior dog 9 and up
• Have a care plan in place in case of emergency

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.

Why we won’t adopt very young goldens to senior citizens

Safety

Young goldens are very strong and can easily pull an adult down while on a walk. They are prey driven and could chase after or lunge at a passing squirrel or lizard which could catch the walker off guard causing a fall, or the dog could break free and run out into traffic or just run off.  Both parties can be hurt.

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.  Often senior citizens are unable to provide the necessary exercise for a young dog.

 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