Adopted dog success stories?

I've been a volunteer with my local animal shelter for many years. I've seen so many animals whose people died or went into long-term care and had not made plans ahead of time for who would care for their animal. When I revised my will last year I added a section on my animals who live with me. I did not name my current cats as my will is not specific to any one animal but rather any animals living with me should be unable to care for them. I've set money aside in my will and named the people who agreed ahead of time to take my animals should I be unable to care for them. I also wrote in my will that my animals are not to go to an animal shelter. Of course I cannot enforce that if I'm not around to do so but the people I've named in my will to care for my animals have agreed to this.

I'm 73-years-old. At this point in my life if I adopt any other animals they will be seniors like me. We've adopted senior dogs and while we did not get to enjoy a lot of years with them we gave them a good life in their senior years.

I just adopted a 6 1/2 year old golden retriever mix from the Humane Society. I've had goldens in the past and they are mild, their barking is very limited, and I've never had an anxiety issue. I also have a golden corgi mix, and she can have anxiety issues at times. I bought her a stuffed animal that is her best friend, and I give her calming treats at the advice of the trainer - this has worked great for me. The treat is called Calming Moments and I get them on Amazon. I was giving her 2 a day, but it wasn't enough so the trainer suggested giving her 2 treats, 2 times a day and it's worked great. I hope this helps.

We had a similar situation years ago. The rescue we adopted was on his third strike with us. He'd already been returned from the first two homes. We've had many dogs over the years and loved them all.

Here is what I did. I thought that he (separation anxiety dog) needed company. I found a smaller dog online and went out the next day to check him out. I adopted him on the spot and brought him home. What a find. He was a little Napolean and took over management of the house. Along with the separation anxiety-ridden dog who suddenly forgot what was bothering him. I realize this may not be an option for you (more responsibility etc.) but it's a thought. We are dog sitting these days, but as we are about your age, discovered that we don't have the stamina to keep up with younger dogs and older dogs mean that you have to go through the trauma of losing them, but enjoy them so much. Good luck.

Most dogs when left alone have separation anxiety. More me the answer was to rescue one more, and after an adjustment, they keep each other company. Always worked for me. No diffferent than with horses!

We've thought about getting a second dog, but it is a lot of responsibility and work for people our age. And I was reading a lot of stories of people in our spot and one person said they thought adopting another dog would help, but instead they ended up now having two dogs with separation anxiety! I think it could go either way

My situation was not exactly the same. But for what it’s worth. We had a perfectly trained and well behaved chocolate lab with that non-trainable spaniel. We thought maybe if he watched the lab and they were put out together, he would get the picture. Nope. But at least the lab didn’t pick up his bad habits.

My husband and I have 2 rescue pitbulls. They are my legal ESAs. They both have separation anxiety. They go everywhere with us. They enjoy car rides walks etc. But we cannot leave them. The female pitbull is very attached to me and often if I walk outside and she is inside ( we own an rv) she will paw on the windows. I have a seizure risk but have been seizure free over 10 years. The other dog a male will often stick right by me especially if my dose of anti epileptic med is being adjusted. Right now my dose is lower due to gastrointestinal side effects and he is often right by me so I wonder if he senses something I am nit aware of. Our dogs are not on any meds. We just accepted that separation anxiety was part of taking these dogs and adapted. Not always easy. The female has learned to honk the horn and turn on the emergency flashers if I was gone too long in a grocery store. We have a Toyota camry and the female has clawed the dash and interior by the windows in anxiety. We taped the marks over. I am 64. My husband is 61. My allergy injection.nurse once told me got to love them. This may not help.

@tcokeefe I totally understand your hesitation. It’s not a guaranteed fix. My boy Labradoodle puppy misses me, and having his sister as company doesn’t stop that anxiety.

He’s now got used to me being on the property, just not in the same room. He no longer cries but often he will stay at the door and wait for me. I increased that time away from him gradually getting him used to being without me.

I then used the same gradual leaving while I went out. They are terrible chewers so I can’t leave them items of my clothing in their beds as comfort!

2 dogs are double work, double cost and double strength required.

I would keep working with your solo dog.

Thanks, that's the plan for now. We have desperately been trying to work on leaving him alone in the bedroom. This has been going on for seven weeks. He's been on Prozac now for a few weeks plus trazodone and gabapentin. Yet most of the time within two seconds of closing the door, the crying and yelping starts. It's been so stressful. We are really hoping that after a few more weeks of Prozac, we will start to see some changes. We have not left the house for seven weeks! At least not together.

It can take a couple of months for the Prozac to build up in their system. We had one of our dogs on the same three meds and once the level of Prozac built up in her system we were able to stop the other two but she still takes the Prozac.
It is a long road but hopefully there is improvement ahead.