Embracing the Joys and Challenges of Senior Pet Adoption

Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers, welcome to another episode of the Story of my Pet. I am your host, julie Marty Pearson, as always, and I'm happy to have you back to listen to a brand new episode. This is a fun and heartwarming story of how a couple agreed to foster, then adopt, a bonded pair of senior doxons. It's a really great story of how they opened their heart to older dogs that needed a home after their owner was no longer able to care for them, and how that's turned into many grand adventures of these two adorable dogs. I hope you enjoyed this episode and remember to share it with your family and friends. Hello, I'm excited to welcome a new guest, katie Selby. Hi, katie, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. And she has her two precious pups in her lap. We will be talking a lot about Fred and Barney. They're like yes, it is all about us. Yes, so before we get into the tale of Fred and Barney, have you always been an animal lover, a dog lover, since you were a kid?

Yes, growing up, I've had several dogs. As a child and throughout my family, my whole family is dog lovers. My husband never had pets growing up, so this is the first experience with dog living with dogs, but he likes it.

So how long ago did your story with Fred and Barney start? It started two years ago, okay, and did you have any dogs together with your husband before that, or was this his first pet ever? This was his first pet ever, wow, so a big change for him. Yeah, how did you first meet Fred and Barney?

On September 4th 2021, I received a text message from my uncle, roy, who plays an important part of an organization called Pet Rescue Network in the St Louis metropolitan area, and he asked me if my husband and I would take in two dogs to foster. And we said, sure, we'd love to take them in because we were thinking about getting a dog and this would be a good opportunity to see if dogs would be a good fit in their family. And, of course, yes they are.

Yeah, I was just talking about this with someone else I interviewed for the podcast about how fostering can be a really great way to dip your toe into the pet world if you haven't had a pet for a long time, or someone like your husband who's never had one. There's never any requirement you have to keep them with fostering, obviously, but it's a great way to get to know the animal for you, to see how they fit into your life. So it sounds like that's what happened with you guys.

Yes, it did. The two dogs, who we now call the boys, were first found by my uncle's rescue friend in Rala, missouri, who then asked Rita, who is also part of Pet Rescue Network along with my uncle Roy, if she would take in the boys and she's the owner of the pet club facility in the St Louis metropolitan area, and between the two of them she and my uncle knew that they would find them a great forever home. The dogs both had kennel cough and needed somewhere to stay while they were recovering from their illness? Had they been found on the street or were they in a shelter or they were living with a gentleman who was older and who had a terminal illness and they just they needed somewhere to go.

I've heard within the shelter I a lot of times animals end up at shelters if someone's become ill or had to be put into assisted living or passes away, and so it's great that your uncle is a part of a network that helped find the boys a new home.

Yes, yes, and after three days of having them we knew we wanted to keep them, because their previous owner asked if they could stay together because they're littermates, and we just knew, with their cute, entertaining antics, that we just had to keep them.

Yeah, it's so important when animals are bonded and they've been in a home together to keep them together, but that's not always as easy to do, so it's great that you were able to take both of them and keep them. Yes.

And there are two senior doxons. They're 11 now. They were nine when they came to us and everyone asks about their names and how we came up with them. They were named that when they came to us and we were going to change their names at nine years old.

It's funny because when I was going through my notes before we recorded, I was looking at them and I go oh, Fred and Barney, like the Flintstones, why? But they're super cute names.

Yeah.

So tell me a little bit about Fred and Barney. What are their personalities like? Fred is more like active.

He loves to get out of the kennel, houdini out of the kennel and Houdini out of his collar. He just does it for fun, those little antics, and Barney just loves to snuggle. And they also have a neighborhood watchpin that leads up. There's steps that leads up to the neighborhood watchpins to look out the window and be security guards for us. And sometimes Fred's only on duty and Barney is in the big bed under the blanket barking because Fred's barking. Then he runs in here and runs up the steps and looks out the window to make sure everything is safe too.

I could just picture all of that happening too. I can just see Fred there barking and little Barney's under the blanket barking. That's always so funny when you have multiple animals and they react just because the other one is they don't know, why? But if he's barking, I must need two too.

Yes, they both have outgoing personalities and Barney is a dog with kyposis scoliosis, where he came to us with his back arched and Fred's wasn't. We had the diagnosis in March of 2022. And then, to step back on that, barney had an IVD moment vaginal disc disease I don't know how to pronounce that, but he had that moment in December of 2021. And he was just scooching around on the floor and we weren't sure what was going on. So we called the vet and we couldn't get him into the vet office because it was holiday time. So we took him to the emergency vet clinic near us and they said he had IVDD. So he had to be crate, trained and in recovery and all that. So that's why we now put them both in the kennel when we're gone long periods of time. Growing up, I never dealt with any animals, any dogs, that had that. They're prone to that because they're miniature doxins.

I was going to ask if that has something to do with their breed, because doxins are so low to the ground and sometimes if their bellies are bigger, it pulls on their spine and their back a little bit.

Yes, and then after his diagnosis with that, I was like you know what? His back is arched, so why don't we get him into the vet? And we did that. And he got that diagnosis in March 2022. And his doctor suggested that he gets laser therapy treatments and chiropractic care. And we really make sure that we continue to do that and he gets chiropractic care every eight weeks, as needed, and then laser therapy every two weeks.

Wow, has that really helped him in his mobility? Yes, I've heard a lot of great things, especially with dogs, with senior dogs, with chiropractic care. I've never experienced it myself with a pet, but it sounds like it's a really great option for people.

Yes, and then on that day we learned that why Barney and Fred cannot be separated. Because I had to go to the doctor. I stayed home with Fred because I knew exactly what was going to happen. He had real bad separation anxiety. I went to the doctor and left Fred at home in the kennel and he was just really had a hard time with missing brother, wondering where I was. And there was a crate outside of his kennel, a wooden crate that he nodded at with his paws because he was so upset I'm wondering where brother was. So then when I got home from the doctor, my husband and I took Fred and we both all three of us went to go pick up Barney and he was so happy to be reunited with his brother.

That's so sweet. Separation anxiety is such an important thing to talk about. People don't realize how easily pets get them. I've seen it a lot with dogs in shelters too, especially if they've been at home and now they're not. So I can imagine those two who have lived their whole lives together would be hard if one of them isn't there.

Yes, and speaking of that, past couple weeks ago Barney had to get his teeth cleaned and dental extractions, so I purposely scheduled his dental extractions and teeth cleaning for a day that I had off work so that I could take Fred out all day and he was not at home. We went to local stores that are pet friendly to dogs, into a park and we were home for an hour so that he wouldn't be looking for his brother all day.

That's so great. Yeah, I think that's so important. You have to prepare for that if you can, and it sounds like that's exactly what you do for a fun day out, with you keeping him distracted from his brother being gone, because it's one thing to take them to the vet together, but when one of them is having a procedure, there's no way for them to be together. What kind of things do Fred and Barney like to do? Do they like to go out on adventures and go to different places, meet people?

Oh, yes, yes, they do. They love going on adventures and, speaking of adventures, they have a Facebook page called the many adventures of Barney and Fred, and my husband's hockey friend suggested that we set up a Facebook page for them, so I did that November of 2021, and starting out they had 100 followers, but as of one o'clock this afternoon, they had 9,200 followers.

Wow, they had more followers than me. They had more than me. So do you post like fun stories of them regularly for people to get to hear about and things like that?

Yes, and the one we love to do is to go to Yatties Yummies. It is a pet bakery and people for disabilities are employed there, and all most of their proceeds from the sales go to help animals and shelters.

That's great.

Yes.

I love hearing about businesses small businesses, whether they're virtual or brick and mortar that support animals.

Yes, and some other events that they like to go to is to get pictures taken with Santa Mrs Claus. They go to Barca de Mayo and Barthober Fest.

Oh my gosh, that sounds like a lot of fun I can just imagine. And, speaking of people with disabilities, I know that you and your husband are both para educators a little bit.

Yes, we're both para educators in the St Louis area. We work with children with disabilities and support them each and every day. And as we were working and having the boys after Barney's IVDD moment and scoliosis, we knew that we probably needed to adapt the house for them. So we got some ramps that lead up to the couch, the steps that lead up to the bench and a ramp that leads up to their bed in our bedroom Say, their bed, because it's their bed and my uncle Roy also helped us customize a ramp outside our backyard because we had Previously we'd had to carry them, wish them, tack them up and go out down the steps through a gate so they can go outside. But now they use a ramp and they're just little torpedoes that just run down the ramp and race down the ramp. They race each other. Yes, they race each other.

That's so great. I think that's so important. You know, when we foster or adopt an animal that a dog or a cat that might have some type of physical disability, we often fear like they're not gonna be able to do the same things that used to, or maybe they're not gonna be able to navigate the house. But it sounds like you guys have made all of the you know different changes to your house possible to be able to allow Barney to participate just like you did before.

Yes, and Fred loves it too.

He gets the benefit of all of the ramps. I'm sure, and I think that even in common with senior dogs, sometimes they need a little assistance, because it's so much better for them to remain active and keep being active than not be able to do some of the things that. Used to. Have Fred and Barney ever gone on road trips or anything like that with you?

Oh yes, they've been on many road trips. They've been to Branson, missouri, several times, lake of the Ozarks and this past September we took them on their first out of state trip to Tennessee and on that trip they decided to use a hotel's towel as a bed and I took a picture of them laying on the towel. You wanna believe this? On their Facebook page. They got 7,300 reactions on that picture.

It's so. We get our pets the most luxurious blankets and beds, and then all they wanted the hotel to have yes, oh, that's so funny.

And at one of the restaurants at Lake of the Ozarks. We took them to the summer. It's called Jolly Rogers. They actually had a pet friendly menu and they both they ordered a peanut butter sickle. It's like a popsicle and it was big enough for them both to share, so they went ahead and had that and then, speaking of sharing, my favorite thing that they do is share their water together out of their water bowls.

They both have to drink at the same time. Yes, definitely sounds like these two. Keep your life full of funny moments and very entertained. Yes, so if someone were to say to you I've thought about fostering or I've thought about adopting an older dog, but I'm just worried that I'm not gonna have enough time with them or I worry about their health, what would you say to them in terms of your experience, having done that?

I would say senior dogs. They're really calm and they're trained and everything and I felt I just wanted to take them in because they needed a place to live and I didn't mind carrying in their unique needs.

And senior dogs still have lots of love to give.

Yes, so much.

Yeah, and I think what you said is so true that sometimes, even if it's just a couple year old dog, whatever it may be they've already, like you said, learned things and trained things. They're not gonna have the same tendencies of puppywood, but they're still all they want a home and a person to love. Yeah, Everybody will definitely have to check out your Facebook page so they can follow along on all of the Barney and Fred's adventures. Do you have any other specific adventures you'd like to talk?

about Sure. I would just like to say that Barney and Fred are local celebrities. They have been on TV six times.

Oh my gosh.

They were on Fox2 St Louis's Putracast Twice. They've been featured on KLD for St Louis. The first time they shared a glimpse of their story finding a forever home, along with a photo of them enjoying a pop cup. And then the boys are also featured in a photo of two of them going on a walk in their new stroller. And they were featured on KSD channel five St Louis three times. The first time they were pet of the week for show me St Louis and the boys were on TV at KSDK Plaza while show me St Louis was airing and they were featured on Worson Woods pet supply plus Facebook wage quite a few times. And those are just a few highlights of their adventures, and I love to say that I'm their agent who helps get them their 15 minutes of fame.

Sounds like they've had multiple 15 minutes of fame. That's so great. I'm sure it was hard for them to leave the owner they've always had and for their owner to have to give them up, but for them to find such an incredible family with you and your husband that not only do you take care of them and help them with physical issues that they've had, but literally you've made them so happy to be a part of the town you live in to yes, and I'd also like to give a shout out to the amazing doctors at Animal Medical Center Mid America, maryland Heights, because since I didn't really know what IVDD was and what Barney's needs were, we found a great, amazing doctor who communicates really well with me and lets me ask the questions that I need. That's so important Having a vet not only that you like, but you trust and feel like they're going to give you. Sometimes it's so hard, they're so busy, you feel like you can't get your questions answered, so that's really great that they have such an end place to go. Yes, I can't wait to share pictures of friend Barney with everyone and everybody to check out your Facebook page so they can read all about their adventures, and I also wanted to shout out again Pet Rescue Network, which is the rescue that coordinated you getting Fred and Barney in St Louis, surrey, and I will tag them as well in any post or anything for this episode, though that people can learn more about them too. Thank you so much, katie. It was really great meeting you virtually here and getting to learn about Fred and Barney and their adventures with you. It sounds like you have a really amazing fur family, and, while you've really just thrown your husband into being a dog dad, yes, I'm sure he loves it, though, with those two characters.

Yes, he does.

He probably would say how could we ever not have dogs again? Right.

Especially the smaller ones.

Oh and Docsons I've had, friends have had them, and they are such little characters. They have so much personality in those little bodies. Thank you, katie, for being here. It's been really great to hear your story and hopefully inspire some other people to think about fostering and adopting older dogs, because they still have so much life to live and they just want a happy family like yours have. Thank you, my friends and fellow animal lovers, for listening to this episode of the story of my pet. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share the podcast with your family and friends so more people can hear these inspiring pet stories and learn how to advocate for animals in need through rescue, fostering, adoption and volunteering. Make sure you hit, follow or subscribe wherever you are listening to this episode so you don't miss any new upcoming episodes. You can also now subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, so please go over there, hit, subscribe. Remember to rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening or watching, whether it be on Apple, spotify, now on YouTube. The more ratings and reviews we get, the more people will see the podcast and share these pet stories. Thank you for listening. Much love to you and your pet.