Petfinder encourages us to highlight different companion animals in different months - special needs perhaps or senior pets. November is Adopt a Senior Dog Month

Why would you want a senior pet? How long will it live? How will it fit into my lifestyle?

Qualities to cherish -

• More settled and predictable
• Known likes and dislikes
• Love and loyalty
• Tried and true

A couple of the older dogs that Pet Haven has right now are Max and Russell. Both are charmers.

Let's take a look at Max. What eyes! Look at that inquisitive face! What about his funny teeth? House and kennel trained if you wish to kennel during the daytime. Great companion - He's going to dance when you come home, be anxious to go for a short walk or outside to do his job, play with toys with you, snuggle down to feel your loving touch whenever you'd like.

Russ is another of our older dogs. He's currently fostered with a retired couple who have another dog. He loves deck sitting (and running in the fenced yard) with whomever is sitting on the deck or puttering in the yard. He's a shorty and doesn't get up on furniture, but he'll keep you company wherever you are in the house. Russ has some arthritis in his back and gets some medications for that - who doesn't have a little arthritis as they get older? Russ would prefer a home with no young children - maybe a home with one or two folks who have time to watch tv with him, get him out for short walks, who will enjoy his sparkling eyes and energetic spirit.

This is Russ on the left - ready to play fight with his house buddy. He also likes to play in the fresh snow.

Russ and Max came to Pet Haven because their former owner's could no longer keep them. Not enough time? Change or loss of job? Foreclosure? Both of these boys hope that someone will chose him for their home.

Perhaps a senior pet will live another 4-6 years. Perhaps, if you think about it, that is just the right time commitment for you to make. Everyone's lives change - moves, job and schedule change, retirement, parents to assist as they age. Not all of us are able to make a commitment to a young dog who will be with them for 14-18 years.

Let's take a fresh look at these senior pets with wide open eyes and see all they have to offer...

You will be the most important person in their life. Who wouldn't like to have the kind of companion to come home to?