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SENIOR DOG ADOPTION

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Classic Rhythm & Blues Music * Local History * Community Service
* Senior Dog Adoption *

"A PEOPLE WHICH TAKES NO PRIDE IN THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF REMOTE ANCESTORS WILL NEVER ACHIEVE ANYTHING WORTHY TO BE REMEMBERED BY REMOTE DESCENDANTS." Thomas Babington Macaulay

Yogi - Everyone's Best Friend

About three years ago, Yogi came into my life. I had two Shih Tzus, Buddy and Fats, whom I inherited from a marriage gone bad. After a few months it just being me and the boys in the house, I got to thinking, these two are no trouble, there's room for one more.... and that's how Yogi came to be a part of my life. I found www.Petfinder.com, learned that older dogs NEED homes and make great pets. After some searching, I met Yogi, a one-eyed 9-10 year old Pug-Pekingese (maybe a little Chihuahua, too) mix who was being fostered by the Burlington County Animal Alliance. Yogi's description stated that he had to go to a home with more than one dog.... he liked company. It was a good fit!!!! 

Buddy and Fats were paper trained and used to a fenced in yard. They had not been taught to walk on a leash. I put Yogi in the yard and he looked at me with an expression that said... "no walk, no action". Pretty soon I had all three dogs walking together... I lost weight and we all had a real nice time. Things worked out so well that four months later I adopted another old dog, Shorty. Shorty was in pretty bad shape when he came home, but I knew that his time was short going in.... the point was, I had room in the home and room in the heart to give him a good home for the time he had left. Shorty was with us until July of 2005, when his time came. A few weeks before, another old dog was being dumped at the old West Jersey Animal Shelter in Pennsauken. I was there with a friend, was NOT looking for a dog, but I came home that day with Dominic. 

When it was time to put Shorty down I cried like a baby, then toughened up, because it not about me, it's about the dogs. I swore to myself that in time another old fella was going to have a home. 

Yogi liked going outdoors and socializing. Soon after he came home I started taking my pack to the dog park in Cherry Hill at Cooper River Park. In the summer of 2005 a nice lady named Livia started coming to the park with her little puppy, Gigi.... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In October of 2005, I found our new old fella, Bart the Bulldog. He had been found wandering around Philadelphia, and had been rescued and rehabilitated by a bulldog rescue in northern Virginia. Dominic and I drove down to bring him home. Yogi and Bart became fast friends. 

In 2006 Yogi started to slow down, if such a thing were possible.... speed and Yogi were never words that should have been in the same sentence. I took him to the vet, who discovered that he had an enlarged heart. That, coupled with a pug's appetite and his old age, meant that his days were coming to an end. He could no longer go on long walks, and by the fall of 2006 his stamina had declined to the point that he could only scamper about 20 feet before taking a breather.

In November of 2006 Livia and got married. This brought a major change. The Funky Dogs were split up. Yogi and Dominic came to Pennsauken, while Bart, Fats and Buddy remained in Camden with my son. It was a heartache and a half, but as I stop by my son's a lot, it was as ok as it was going to be.

Last night, I carried Yogi upstairs and we sat on the couch and watched TV for a spell. He ate his treat, his tail was wagging, he was his usual loving and happy self. This morning, Livia and I took Yogi, Dominic and Gigi to the dog park. Yogi had a good time, didn't move around too much, but all in all was a pretty happy camper. The day before at the dog park a couple of pugs came to the park, and he was engaged with them.

Today I put Yogi outside around 1:00 PM in our yard, which is shady and gets a nice breeze. I came out about twenty minutes later, and he was gone. I used to kid that with his enlarged heart, one day he'd have a coronary and I would find him gone, and that was what happened.

Yogi set me on the path, convinced me of the need to take up the cause of adopting senior dogs. He made the dogs around him better, made me better, and if not for Yogi I never would have met Livia, my beloved wife.

Yogi was a character, a real photogenic dog. Small children were drawn to him, he was teddy bear cuddly, and was very affectionate to all. I used to say that even with one eye, Yogi never had a bad day in his life, and I believe that's true. I'm missing him and don't think a day will come when I won't.

That being said, there is an empty bowl on the floor, and sooner or later another old guy is coming home to be with Gigi, Dominic, Livia, and me.

Enjoy the pictures, support your local animal shelter, and if you've got the heart and the home, adopt an older dog. Take it from THIS old dog, you will be blessed a hundred times over.

Phil Cohen
August 5, 2007

Yogi knows office furniture!

My father,
Doctor Leon
&
his latest patient!

Yogi has a new friend!

Yogi: It's Christmas, and as long as I get a treat, I don't care what I look like!

Buddy: I'm not wearing that. Not even for a biscuit. For a carrot, yes.... I'll wear a dress for a carrot....

A spring day... a good time to chill out in our own yard, and watch the world go by... or not!!!

Buddy and Yogi
catching some shade

Fats, Buddy and Fats
catching some shade

gratuitous butt shot

Hanging Out On The Deck

July 2, 2005

BUDDY
&
YOGI

On Monday, July 18, 2005 Shorty left us for the big dog park in the sky. His legs continued to get worse, and he did not respond to medication or dietary supplements. It got so he could not stand and hardly walk, and his appetite was way off.  

I got him outside and down the steps, but the poor guy couldn't walk around the block. He was hurting so bad, it was time to let him go. So I called the vet, and the last thing Shorty knew on this earth was me hugging him and telling him what a good dog he was.

Old boy's legs were bad for months. He tried to hide it but you could see how sore he was every time he got up or laid down. He wore the harness because I had to do the "suitcase" thing to get him up the front steps into the house... his rear legs were so bad he just couldn't get up the steps on his own.  Maybe when Dominic came home Shorty knew there was another fellow to watch over the house. 

I miss him a lot, it hurt to lose him.... but I will continue to give the old dogs the homes they need and deserve. Think about it... maybe you can, too.

I'm not sure what Yogi was looking for,
but sure I hope he found it!

Labor Day

September 5, 2005

We Dogs took the humans  back on the road. First we met our friends at Cooper River- 

Yogi

As you can see, that's me.... with Lucy's mom Maria, Dotty, Mary, and with her back to us Raven's mom Maria at the left. I don't know those people sitting down at the back, but they were nice-              Yogi

"Where have you been?"

Yogi

Yogi & Dominic

Yogi loved to sit on the front step
and watch the world go by

October 20, 2005

My human, Phil, said that if you see a good thing that you CAN do, it means that it something that you SHOULD do.

He read about Bart at Petfinder.com and thought about him for a couple of weeks, Phil thinks that Bart and I have a lot in common, like sleeping, eating, snoring, and grunting.

He asked us dogs if we wanted another friend. Hey, why not.... it could mean more biscuits for all of us!!

Yogi

Here's Yogi!

Buddy is sitting on the bench in the back.

A nice lady is holding Sara, Buddy is on the bench.

Yogi, Roger, and Fats are on the ground.

YOGI: No one is paying any attention to ME!!! I'm outta here!!

Don't be fooled by her size. Gigi is  handful!!!

Bart:  I think they want us to run after each other.

Yogi: Run? you have got to be kidding!

for about 15 yards

These two high energy individuals own a very nice human named Jodi Spector, who is affiliated with American Bulldog Rescue in Newtown PA. 

A walk in the sun... 

Yogi, Bart & Buddy

We is ACTIVE dogs!

Yogi, Bart & Buddy

See us in action!

Yogi, Bart & Buddy

OK, we're done.

Yogi, Bart & Buddy

Look Dad... we moved!!!!!

Lucy
with
Yogi & Bart
in the background

Yogi
Dominic
&
Bart

Bart:   If we stay right here, the bed won't escape.

Yogi:  Good Thinking!

Yogi:
After I drank the coffee, this think grew out of my head. What did you call me.... 
a Chia dog????
Oooh, that'll cost ya, big time

Dominic: 
I hope the little dog in the blue jacket is what Bart is looking at...

Bart:
Hey Yogi.... wait up! 
Help me find my contact lens...

Ready, Set, Go!

Yogi:
I do know, 
and it's not going in my mouth...

Yogi:
You think Phil has a biscuit?

Fats:
I don't care

Phil & Yogi

surrounded
by
Dominic, Buddy & Fats

Gigi
in the back
wants a ball!!

Dominic & Gigi
at
play

Dominic & Gigi
at
play

Dominic: That Yogi... he thinks he's a player!!

That is the last picture I took of Yogi. 

Seven weeks later, Livia and I got married. Her mother had suffered a fall three weeks before, and had gone to hospital.... we didn't know at the time that she would not come back. I split time between Camden and Pennsauken for a month, finally moving to Pennsauken with Yogi and Dominic at the end of December of 2006. Livia's mom passed at the end of January, 2007. Although we go to the dog park every Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting, what with moving and getting into a routine, I did not take any pictures in the first seven months of 2007.

A few weeks ago, Livia and I were watching a detective movie. One character said "He's just lucky", to which someone else... the detective I think... said "Lucky? Lucky is a one-eyed dog with no nuts."

Livia and I turned to each other simultaneously and said "Hey! We got one of those!"

Lucky? I'm the lucky one for having Yogi as a pal for the last three years. He taught me a lot, gave me his best... and his best was as good as it gets. 

Phil Cohen.

Thank you for visiting this page. If you have room in your house and your heart for an older dog... or cat, consider adopting one. If adoption isn't practical, please support you local animal shelter.

Phil Cohen.

A question that many people have asked... and many others should ask... is "What can I do to help my country in this time of war. The answer is in the link below. This program was started by the operator of the animal information site www.netpets.org, shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks, after learning of thousands of pets put to sleep during the first Gulf War because service men and women had nowhere to board them.

STEP UP AND DO YOU PART FOR AMERICA!

 Phil Cohen
September 14, 2007

The most important link on this website4

LINKS

Petfinder.com

Burlington County Animal Alliance

West Jersey Volunteers for Animals - West Jersey Animal Shelter

The Animal Orphanage