There’s been a change here at The American Canine homestead. A new girl has moved in, or rather, a new old girl has moved in.

Once again, we have volunteered to be Final Refuge Fosters for the incredible rescue group, Old Dog Haven.

This time around, we have a 12 year old chocolate Lab that will be spending her remaining days (or months or years) with us. 

This poor old soul was picked up as a stray in the Vancouver, Washington area. Based on her wonderfully sweet demeanor and extended health issues, most likely she was dumped by owners who couldn’t or wouldn’t give her the treatment and care she needed.

Old Dog Haven stepped in, as they often do, to make sure she had a soft spot to land in her twilight. That’s where we come in.

We had just offered our home to another elderly lab, but ODH had already found a foster for her. However, there was another senior girl in the Southwest Washington Humane Society that needed a place to go. Meet, Phoebe.

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Phoebe has a long list of health concerns, not the least of which are loss of strength in her back end and a mast cell tumor on her hip, but she is a sweetheart. She met with our pups and everyone is getting along well. She and Moose (the crotchety old-timers) have had a couple verbal disagreements, mostly about who gets the next treat or who gets to be closer to one of the people, but even those are minor. 

Phoebe is one of the countless dogs who find themselves homeless in their final years due to cost of care or simple neglect by owners not interested in dealing with a dog in old age. It is such a widespread issue that Old Dog Haven has made it their mission to help these deserving dogs. Founded in 2004, they have helped thousands of dogs over the years. They do adopt out those who have a longer life expectancy, but say some ninety percent go into what they call Final Refuge Fosters, homes where the pooches can live in comfort for the remainder of their lives. We have had three of their final refuge fosters, Lily, Mabel, and Maggie.

Even though they have had three-hundred plus dogs in their care at any one time since 2016, they still have a waitlist for dogs in need. With this many dogs under their care, and all of them old and many of them ill, vet bills add up fast. They say the rescue averages $80, 000 in vet bills EVERY MONTH. They have to count on the generosity of donors to cover those costs.

If you want to help with their very worthwhile cause, they are a legit 501(c)3 charity and any donation is tax deductible. 

We will keep you posted about Phoebe’s progress here with us. So, until next time, be careful in the heat, call out racism where you see it, and get out there and do something with your dog!

Epilogue:

I started writing this and suddenly the 80s song “New Girl Now” began running through my head. In case you are a big fan of cheesy pop from thirty years ago, I decided to give you the opportunity to have this little earworm burrowing into your brain. Enjoy.