Arellano: The joy and heartbreak of adopting a senior dog

Cosmo and Hook came into my beingness successful the summertime of 2020. My wife, Delilah, recovered them connected the website of Frosted Faces Foundation, a nonprofit successful the bluish San Diego County municipality of Ramona that rescues elder dogs.

She instantly wanted the furry Yorkie and the skinny Chihuahua; I didn’t.

Adopting pets successful the wintertime of their lives seemed similar a speedy heartbreak lone a masochist would want, I argued. We didn’t request immoderate much burdens, affectional oregon financial. Cosmo and Hook were 10 and had wellness issues erstwhile Frosted Faces took them successful from pounds successful Riverside and San Diego counties, respectively. Cosmo had precocious mislaid an eye; Hook was calved with a clubfoot. Both needed contiguous dental surgery.

“But that’s wherefore we request to follow them,” Delilah said. “They don’t person overmuch clip left, truthful we request to springiness them each the lovies we can.”

We met the 2 for the archetypal time, astatine the aforesaid time. Cosmo fto america favored him, past approached Hook. He lunged astatine Cosmo, who didn’t adjacent flinch.

They came location with america the aforesaid day.

The problems compounded with each passing week. Cosmo itched truthful overmuch from allergies that helium perpetually scratched himself earthy and unleashed a howl erstwhile we were gone for excessively long, truthful large and haunting that my neighbour thought it was a siren. Hook often forsook nutrient for the feline poop helium ever seemed to find connected our tract and successful our backyard.

Cosmo, left, and Hook astatine the Orange County location of Gustavo Arellano and Delilah Snell.

(Gustavo Arellano/Los Angeles Times)

Hook ever wanted to wound Cosmo with his fewer remaining yellowed, tiny teeth that Delilah compared to candy corn. Cosmo ever looked for immoderate ace successful our location to effort to bolt away. I grumbled and complained portion Delilah instantly fell successful love. But arsenic the months went connected and they settled in, this canine mentation of “The Odd Couple” burrowed their mode into my heart.

Cosmo turned retired to beryllium a saccharine guy, portion Hook hated everything and everyone but maine and hanging retired successful the prima with Delilah. Both sat astatine my feet, sphinx-like, for hours during my pandemic-era Zoom calls, Hook waiting to beryllium connected my lap, Cosmo to prevarication by my side. At night, the guys slept successful our furniture — Cosmo astatine our feet, Hook close betwixt Delilah and me.

They came to america fragile and old, and our nurturing turned backmost their biologic clocks. Cosmo went from crouching successful corners, excessively acrophobic to explore, to leaping onto our precocious sofa with the vigor of a puppy. Hook’s overgarment turned from splotchy and brownish to poofy and golden. When I asked if they wanted to sojourn Delilah astatine her store, Cosmo would thunder down the hallway toward our beforehand door, portion Hook rumbled behind.

We spent each time figuring retired however to marque their aureate years arsenic comfy and blessed arsenic possible. I tin hardly navigator instant ramen, yet I prepared canine nutrient — 1 portion chicken, 1 portion turkey, 1 portion brownish atom and 1 portion saccharine murphy — erstwhile we realized the canned worldly wouldn’t chopped it for our boys.

If I needed to drawback Cosmo, I’d rise my manus precocious to fto his 1 oculus warily way maine truthful helium wouldn’t get startled. Delilah insisted that I enactment Hook successful a babe bjorn immoderate clip Cosmo went connected a walk, truthful helium wouldn’t consciousness near out.

It’s arsenic if they blossomed for america retired of gratitude. For not dismissing them arsenic has-beens, arsenic American nine acold excessively often does with thing that isn’t young.

But the deterioration and teardrop of aged property wouldn’t fto america bask bliss for excessively long. More and much issues — upset tummies, bosom murmurs, pancreatitis attacks — crept successful with each passing year. The four-hour trips to and from Frosted Faces for escaped veterinary attraction became a regular portion of our days.

Dr. Lauren Oviedo, a veterinarian astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, sees patients successful the clinic.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Husband-and-wife squad Andy and Kelly Smíšek opened the two-acre installation successful 2016 successful a location they converted into a makeshift kennel. Big dogs enactment successful the garage, small guys enactment inside, and recovering ones lounge successful what utilized to beryllium a surviving room. Walking trails, autochthonal gardens and playpens ringing the structure, watched implicit by an service of volunteers. A vet session opened connected the spot this year.

A gymnastics manager by training, Kelly was inspired to commencement Frosted Faces aft she volunteered astatine section carnal shelters and noticed owners turning successful aged pets due to the fact that they had go excessively overmuch of a hassle.

“No one,” she said, “likes to spot an aged canine sitting down bars.”

Frosted Faces said it placed astir 800 animals past year, including immoderate cats. Cosmo, Hook and I would spot blessed families conscionable their caller pets astatine the beforehand patio, which besides serves arsenic a waiting country for patients and their owners. That’s wherever I met Harry Rivera of Murrieta and his daughter’s dog, Chili.

“He’s been the top blessing,” the Marine seasoned said of the saccharine Chihuahua, implicit the up-tempo popular and stone — Ace of Base, U2, Spice Girls — that Frosted Faces plays to support the ambiance lively. “I was astatine archetypal disquieted astir the care, but erstwhile we came to follow him, helium conscionable jumped up to us, and each my hesitation ended. You spot it successful their eyes — they’re conscionable truthful grateful. He conscionable won our heart.”

“They’re truthful casual to beryllium with — they conscionable privation to beryllium and relax,” said Karen Brainard of Rancho Bernardo, proprietor of Chewy the Chihuahua and Charlie the terrier. “You can’t assistance but to privation to beryllium with them arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.”

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1. Registered vet technician Maira Vierheller, right, picks up Chewy for an assignment successful the session astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 2. Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, is photographed connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 3. Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, is photographed connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) 4. Murphy, 10, has cherry oculus country and a dental cleaning astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs, connected February 20, 2025. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Dr. Neil Russell has been caput veterinarian astatine Frosted Faces for 5 years. “We don’t truly spot galore good dogs,” the London autochthonal acknowledged during a sojourn past twelvemonth erstwhile helium recovered Cosmo was successful the aboriginal stages of kidney disease. “So it takes a peculiar benignant of idiosyncratic who adopts a elder pet. You person to beryllium giving. You person to beryllium kind. You person to beryllium patient. And you person to cognize that you won’t person overmuch time.”

Hook died 2 summers agone astatine 14, grouchy until the end. Cosmo was ne'er the same. He began to locomotion slower and didn’t privation to slumber with america anymore. His proceeding declined; a cataract dispersed crossed his 1 eye.

But Cosmo ate much than ever and went connected much walks, adjacent arsenic they became shorter and shorter. It was arsenic if helium knew his clip was coming, truthful helium was going to marque the astir of it.

At the opening of this year, we wrapped him successful diapers, since helium nary longer knew however to get outside. In the spring, helium began to rotation successful circles.

Dementia.

Dr. Russell enactment Cosmo connected medication, but helium ne'er improved. The mediocre feline couldn’t slumber much than 2 hours astatine a time, turning maine into a frustrated insomniac. He spun truthful overmuch that I had to enactment a bootie connected his backmost close ft due to the fact that Cosmo wore down his paw pad until it bled.

One precocious night, I tearfully vowed to Delilah we would ne'er follow a elder canine again. Our bully times were excessively abbreviated and the heartache wasn’t worthy it. I rapidly regretted my words aft I cradled Cosmo successful my arms to unsuccessfully calm him down. As I stared into his bushed eye, I remembered what helium and Hook taught us.

Selflessness. A recommitment to the outcasts, the overlooked, the underdogs of society. A reminder that each bully things extremity acold sooner than we privation — and that’s wherefore we request to bask what we person portion we person it.

And portion of that is accepting erstwhile it’s clip to accidental goodbye.

We enactment Cosmo down successful our surviving country astatine the extremity of June. The nighttime before, helium was benignant capable to springiness america our archetypal afloat nighttime of uninterrupted slumber successful months. That morning, I carried him connected the aforesaid way helium and Hook walked doubly each day, whispering successful his ears however overmuch we’d miss him and that helium would beryllium reunited with his Frosted Faces member soon.

Volunteer Mary Arkwright lays with 1 of the seniors astatine Frosted Faces Foundation successful Ramona, a nonprofit that rescues elder dogs.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

As the vet administered the euthanasia that ended Cosmo’s suffering, I cooed to him Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” until his paws didn’t flutter anymore. I sang it again past Sunday erstwhile I picked up his ashes, which present beryllium adjacent to Hook’s, supra the fireplace.

Our location is silent. The beds and nutrient bowls are gone; the level wherever they ever near messes aft devouring the grub I made them is eerily clean. We person enactment down dogs before, but they were with america for much than a decade. Four years with Hook and six with Cosmo wasn’t astir enough.

We’re gutted, but Delilah wants to follow much elder dogs. We will, but not close now. It comes with commitments: wealth and time, yes, but particularly emotional. That’s wherefore it’s not for everyone.

Yet that’s what makes adopting a elder favored truthful rewarding. The symptom of caring for them successful their last years is really a privilege. It challenges you to excavation into parts of your psyche you ne'er knew existed and taxes the limits of your heart.

And it prepares america for the march of aging that nary of america tin escape.

Cosmo and Hook, convey you for gracing Delilah and maine with the past portion of your agelong lives. Our clip unneurotic was excessively abbreviated — but the lessons we learned and the joyousness we experienced volition enactment with america forever.