When my lovely old dog passed away in June, my wife and I were shattered. But we have continued plugging along and everything was going well. Until about two weeks ago, or so. Now it is almost daily that we have some sort of sad-moments-of-recollection/missing her together. It's especially bad for my wife, since she has literally nothing to do right now. It May Be Time To Get A New Dog. There is a LOT of fear about getting a new dog. Our old girl was one of those special ones that was good with everyone - kids, cats, squirrels, dogs, whatever - completely voice-trained, vibrantly healthy, and self-sufficient. A new dog will need training. And walks. And could have hidden health issues. And and and... we are both in our 50's, and slowing down, and thinking a puppy is too much work... but many people give up "adult/older" dogs because there are behavior problems with them... so are we getting a problem animal? We both have a lot of training and education in dogs, but ... are some dogs unredeemable? I dunno. My wife sent me an email last night at 3:AM with photos of a little lab puppy that is available nearby ... she's a real cutie...
It would be better to bite the bullet and get a dog now while your wife has time to train it, rather than fighting the urge for two years before caving and getting one. :) We always planned on getting another rescue after our first dog past last summer. Then just before Christmas my wife had a weak moment and decided on a puppy. We're a few years younger and I realized that by the time this dog passes, we may be at retirement age (but not retired).
Yeah, I work from home and she's looking for SOMETHING to do... and I'd love to guide her on how to train the dog up to be like my dog was when she and I met originally... And yeah... get a dog now, and it lives for as long as my last dog (15 years), then I'll be retiring (yeah right!) about the time this dog passes, as well.... hmmm....