Older pets are wonderful

The appeal of baby animals is pretty clear. Adorable in their miniature size, playful and snuggly, quick to wag and purr, uncoordinated and curious. Most people love pups and kitties. Today I'd like to speak about the beauty of older pets.

Giving a mature pet a loving home during his/ her final years should, ideally, be motivation enough to adopt. But the reality is that there are multiple very practical reasons why you should consider inviting an older dog or cat into your life.

Established habits Unless you are adopting an animal who has been feral, an older pet has experience with the basic habits of living with a human. Getting up around the same time every day, eating from a bowl rather than scavenging, seeing the human go off to work, going potty outside or in a litter box, walking on a leash. You may need to help your new household member with a refresher of these habits. But overall, you would definitely not be starting from scratch and needing to spend the months it would otherwise take to train a baby. Chewing on things around the house? Much, much less likely to be an issue at all since your mature pet is not going to be teething at any time of your life together.

Settled personality When you get a puppy or kitty, you mostly don't know what kind of an animal your pet will turn out to be. Unless your baby pet is very assertive or very shy, you likely won't see too much personality differentiation until he/ she starts to grow up and settle down a bit. An older animal, on the other hand, has a clearly settled personality. Foster families and shelter staff will have the experience to fairly quickly tease out the temperament and preferences of an older pet. So finding a mature dog or cat with whom you are an excellent match is a breeze!

Experience Just like a mature human, mature pets have experienced a lot. They have likely known multiple humans and have had to adjust their interactions with each of them. They may have lived at multiple places. They have heard thunderstorms, fire trucks, children screaming, and many, many more things. And all along, they have made adjustments, learned new ways, adapted. Even if some of the habits they picked up were not as good, older pets are resilient and experienced with change. So contrary to popular belief, an older dog (or cat) most definitely can learn new tricks since he has a long track record of trick-learning on his resume. Of course, you may need to convince an older dog your tricks are worth learning. Because with age comes the wisdom that not all tricks are worth your while.