Toby the Papillon
D. Rovers
I have been saying this for years! Dr. Karen Becker recently did an article, “The 21 Longest-Living Dog Breeds” (tinyurl.com/yey6m9nu), that is very interesting. She and Rodney Habib wrote The Forever Dog, which has been selling out in many languages. We all want to know how to keep our best friends around longer. It is possible! Rover’s Kids are reading it!
A list of the top 10 longest-living dogs, that is, 22 years to 31 years, is on Wikipedia. Take a look: tinyurl.com/4r29ae6r. Sad that we have come to accept 8 to 10 years as normal.
YouTube has a short Guinness Book of World Records video of Bobby. The prior oldest dog was 29 years and died in 1939, I believe (tinyurl.com/yepv7xdn).
When you come to a Meet & Greet and see the dogs running around the room playing with toys, sliding across the room playing chase, getting lots of attention from everyone, and going out walking to potty several times is a hit, you want one. Your next question is, “How old is that dog?” When I say 8, 10, 13, you back away and say, “No, I need a puppy.” What?!
Many of Rover’s Rest Stop Kids fall into several of “The 21 Longest-Living Dog Breeds”: Shih Tzu, Toy Poodle, Maltese, Dachshund, Chihuahua, Papillon, Russell Terrier, Affenpinscher, and Lhasa Apso, to name a few.
Small breeds often live twice as long as giant breeds. Small dogs live into their late teens and even early 20s. Inherited physical characteristics influence how long they live, so does environment and lifestyle. You can have a large influence on the health and longevity of your pet through food and environment.
Remember, many of our Kids are adopted when they are young, and due to circumstances beyond their control, they come back. We do our very best to make sure they are healthy and determine if they want another family. We operate on a natural basis and ask the adopters to continue this good care. As with Bobby, we feed real food, more holistic/homeopathic care to cure rather than medicine to treat symptoms only, more exercise and love. None of the adoptable Kids are on medication. Food is their medicine. Age is a number on a piece of paper. What is your number? Is that really you?
Just ask the ambassadors who have adopted seniors, and they will tell you they run circles around them and are the best friends ever! They are very well trained, happy, social, and eat their real food meals in 30 seconds or less! Be sure to say hello to them as they go around the lakes!
We will be in the Cottonwood Paint Room (A-7) on Saturday, Aug. 12, from 9 a.m. to noon. Come on over and say hello, visit with your neighbors, share information, and make new friends!