Puppy love is OK, but love returned by a more mature dog, well...

Two city employees count the little things among the reasons to be thankful today.

The little things - 10 to 12 pounds of furry love and joy - are the dogs Yvonne Manning and Jessica Stallings adopted within the past year.

Cute and cuddly as they are, "Moonie" Manning and "Cesar" Stallings aren't puppies.

They're "senior" dogs, 10 or 11 years old, that were in desperate need of a loving home.

Across the country, 5 million to 7 million pets, many of them older animals, enter animal shelters each year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

And approximately 3 million to 4 million are never adopted, but are euthanized because there's a lack of resources or space to care for them.

November has been tagged "Adopt a Senior Pet Month" by a number of animal rescue agencies, including the ASPCA, Petfinder.com and the East Coast Asian Dog Rescue Inc.

Both Moonie and Cesar found their current homes through the East Coast Asian Dog Rescue.

The agency was established to rescue Pekingese, pugs, Japanese Chins, Shih Tzus and other toy/small breeds that are languishing in shelters, abusive situations or that are voluntarily turned in by their owners.

Pets' long journey

Both Cesar, dressed in a lavender sweater and following Stalling's every step, and Moonie, decked out in a navy hoodie and snuggling up to Manning, have come a long way from their earlier lives.

Moonie, a fluffy, pure-bred Pekingese, is 11 and retired from years as a stud dog at a defunct breeding kennel in upstate New York.

East Coast Asian Dog Rescue and other rescue groups took the kennel's dogs to place in foster or permanent homes.

Moonie had cataracts, and most of his teeth were missing or damaged.

Manning has had dogs - all rescues - all of her adult life. She was still mourning the loss of a her cocker spaniel, Romper, when she met Moonie in March.

"I was having a horrible day in the office, everything was going wrong and everyone had issues," she remembered.

Then Debbie showed up with Moonie. Manning took one look at the tiny dog and fell in love again.

She went through a rigorous application process, including a home inspection, and was officially awarded Moonie a few weeks later.

When Stallings took in Cesar as a foster dog, George had just picked him up from a shelter on the Peninsula.

He was 9 to 10 years old, emaciated and had a degenerative, hind end disease.

"When he'd try to run, he'd fall over. He didn't know where his hind legs were all the time," Stallings said.

"He's also a bit of a fear biter, but he's never bitten me."

But Cesar loved to be held, was housebroken and had perfect house manners, never jumping on the furniture uninvited. He walked well on and off the leash.

After four months with Stallings, Cesar now weighs a healthy 10 pounds, gets lots of exercise to strengthen his back legs and sports a wardrobe including his own bathrobe - white terry with a tiny yellow duck.

Older dog advantages

Allison Cardona, director of volunteer programs for the national ASPCA, encourages people to consider adopting an older dog.

Senior dogs, about five years old or older, have significant advantages over puppies, she said.

"They've already developed their personalities, and you know their behaviors," she said.

"They're often housebroken, and they can be active without being puppy-hyper.

"And, you know you're making a difference. Older dogs tend to stay in the shelters longer."

Older dogs may require more medical care for ailments such as arthritis or hip problems and more frequent checkups, she said, but generally the dog's physical health is another known factor before adoption.

"There's nothing cuter than a puppy, but nothing sweeter than an older dog," she said, admitting to a soft spot for the older animals.

"Puppies are an unknown, but with an older dog, what you see is what you get."

Many people, who own a dog for seven or eight years, drop it off at the shelter "like a used appliance."

"I'll never understand that," she said.

Can be easier to train

The Suffolk shelter has about 35 dogs, and the majority of them are adult dogs, according to Harry White, Suffolk's acting chief animal control officer.

The older dogs at the shelter seem to be adopted at about the same rate at the puppies, he said.

"A lot of people think that an adult dog is easier to train as a house dog," he said, something he finds to be true.

"Older dogs are so appreciative of whatever you can do for them," he said.

Java, an 8-year-old Lhasa-Shih Tzu mix, is also looking for a home.

The 17-pound female was given up by the family she had spent her life with when they had a baby and no time for Java.

Boo, a 26-pound pug, is 7 years old and lost his home in New Jersey when the grandson of his former owner developed allergies.

There are rescue groups specific to almost any breed, prospective pet owners should check the Internet or the Yellow Pages.

Reference: http://content.hamptonroads.com

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