I am 77 years old and have had many dogs in my lifetime. I loved all of them, but some of them were unforgettable. Each time I had to have one euthanized, I swore I would never put myself through the loss again. The longest I ever went w/o a friend, was the last time — 3 months. I have always adopted unwanted dogs, either privately or through an organization. My finest bred dog, an Irish Setter, was adopted in 1950, through the old Ellin Prince Speyer Hospital in downtown NYC.

I found that I could not be w/o a dog after that last three months, so I went on-line to petfinder.com and decided to get in touch w/the Australian Shepherd Rescue people. All of my dogs before this were large ones, either Irish Setters or German Shepherds, or in the case of my last buddy, Blackjack, a Doberman/German Shepherd cross. Since I’m getting older, I figured I should go for a smaller breed. The first dog I came across, was an Aussie by the name of Katie, from West VA., who had been mistreated and was looking for someone to love and be loved by. I never looked further than Katie and she has been my buddy ever since, four years now.

Organizations like Aussie Rescue do a wonderful service to both dogs and people, by rescuing the dogs and finding good homes for them. I would suggest that instead of buying a puppy, folks consider giving a home to a wonderful and needy older dog.

Jacquelin from NJ