all is love

June 17, 2016 4:48 PM

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary is the best place, both in real life and on the internet. A senior dog rescue with an amazing Facebook page, OFSDS fosters dogs out, but provides a forever home to a large troop of beautiful pups. Fan favorites include fluffbucket Leo, one-eyed Captain Ron, and presidential Mildred .

Besides the absolute wonder that is the old dogs who live at OFSDS, the Facebook comments are America's best and only hope. Basically the whole internet agrees.


Reasons you should adopt a senior dog.

posted by quadrilaterals (21 comments total)

I forgot to include the pug bucket. And this whole article.
posted by quadrilaterals at 4:50 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

OFSDS is honestly the only good thing about facebook and whomever runs their page is a genius. also they just started using their twitter again

leo, spumoni and gertrude are my faves but they're all so good. such good old friends
posted by burgerrr at 4:58 PM on June 17, 2016 [5 favorites]

Bless these people, bless these dogs.

This is part of the good in this world.
posted by vers at 5:15 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

We don't deserve dogs.
posted by Fizz at 5:20 PM on June 17, 2016 [17 favorites]

Big Fluffy Dog Rescue is also worth a go.

Old Dogs is amazing for what they do.
posted by syncope at 5:47 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I live within OFSDS area and have been mightily tempted to adopt out from there in the past, or at least volunteer for them. My wife can't follow their page because she can't bear to see the Rainbow Bridge stories. Luckily I can filter for her and show her the awesome posts, while not letting her see the RB ones.

They truly give me hope for humanity and I'm super grateful they exist.

(Leo and Captain Ron are my favorites)
posted by Twain Device at 5:54 PM on June 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

#MILDRED2016

Seriously, senior dogs really are the best. My tiny senior maltese was my first dog on my own. She was mostly blind, selectively deaf, and though she'd lost all her teeth sometime before we'd met, she could take down a cheeseburger like a grown human man. Pound-for-pound she had more perseverance, joy, and attitude in her little seven-pound frame than I will likely ever have. She taught me a lot and I miss her every day.
posted by mochapickle at 6:02 PM on June 17, 2016 [9 favorites]

We don't deserve dogs.

My dogs beg to differ.
posted by sonascope at 6:08 PM on June 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

I love these dogs so much, thank you for this.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:20 PM on June 17, 2016

I fell so hard for Ranger, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and was devastated when he unexpectedly passed. But I've moved on to Sharky the dachshund, who apparently got his name because of that famous doxie temperament.
posted by hwyengr at 6:56 PM on June 17, 2016

Old Friends is doing a badly needed service for a bunch of pups that deserve their own sort of party for their twilight years. Seniors are so hard to find homes for. This is awesome.

We're pretty much running a retirement home for senior rescue bulldogs here. This was snacktime the other morning. Ages from the left: 9, 10, 8, 10 (and that's ancient for a bulldog.) The 8 year old is a retired puppy mill girl.
posted by azpenguin at 7:02 PM on June 17, 2016 [12 favorites]

Senior citizen dogs are the best. Sometimes moody and cranky, but there is nothing better than an older dog leaning in for some ear scratches and petting.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:04 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I love these people. Mildred is a fucking boss.
posted by sutureselves at 7:08 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is all that's on my facebook feed. OFSDS, Shadow a Special Kitten, JustinFireSurviver et al and all the humans on facebook can go fuck off I'm busy getting my animal lovins.

Whenever I get sick of fb (which is often) I decide to stay because of OFSDS and Jman. But if they keep trying to cram that gd messenger app down my throat I may have to leave fb.
posted by RichardHenryYarbo at 8:18 PM on June 17, 2016

Old dogs being good makes me cry on even non-maudlin days. I had no chance.
posted by chatongriffes at 9:24 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

If anything could get me to reconsider my I-don't-Facebook policy, this would be it.

(Had the fleeting thought "I wonder if anyone's doing anything like this for senior cats?" then cracked up. Probably not…)
posted by Lexica at 9:33 PM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Old dogs being good

Does this count?
posted by dersins at 9:37 PM on June 17, 2016 [6 favorites]

(you can't really tell from the photo, but that is a 108-pound dog)
posted by dersins at 9:48 PM on June 17, 2016

Old Dog Haven in Washington is another wonderful organization.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 9:50 PM on June 17, 2016

Thanks for sharing this! And by way of getting further attention to all such organizations, here in Santa Fe, NM, we have Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary. They provide a permanent home to both old dogs and horses.
posted by Qubit at 7:03 AM on June 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

The pictures and the stories are amazing, and I love all of them.

But honestly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this about a place other than metafilter: the comments on the posts are INCREDIBLE. It’s like this intense fandom for elderly dogs? That involves writing internal dog monologues? And speculating about dog thoughts and feelings and relationships?

Amazing examples:

[post about Captain Ron sleeping in Leo’s bed]: “Goodnight Captain my Captain. Say it isn't so Captain Ron. Didn't you even ask Leo if you could use his bed. Tsk tsk. I still love you anyway.”

[picture of Toby and Gertrude looking at each other]: “Toby knows Gertrude is Gorgeous but he's not sure what she thinks of him. Gertrude is thinking "what is wrong with that dog? Can't he smell that I adore hiim! Oh, I sure hope he hasn't got a cold and his nose doesn't work." Toby gives her the look and off they go together. G'nite you two lovebirds.”

[picture of dogs kind of in a circle]: “It looks like a lecture on tomorrow's events is being given to the rest of the group. How many signed up for squirrel watching? Hugs to you all.”

[picture of dog on dog bed]: “I love that all the dogs at your sanctuary look so happy and content, for this you walk as paragons amongst men.”

[picture of dog walking]: “she looks very lean and sleek. very aerodynamic”

[picture of a dog sitting next to a mushroom]: “Love the sweet and earthy smell of funghi, I can imagine how magnified it must be for puppy dogs!”

It is an anti-irony zone. I love it so, so much.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:31 AM on June 20, 2016 [5 favorites]