All this urgency was because Archie was seen as “unadoptable”
He was a 12 year old Yorkie, abandoned on the streets and found as a stray. His hair was horribly matted and dirty. He had dementia or some sort of neurological disorder seen in his constant pacing in a circle and occasionally staring at a wall. Animal services had removed most of his teeth due to dental disease along with a mass on his right ear. So when we said yes, that we would take him home, the volunteer helping us shed tears of joy. I took one look at him, picked him up and watched as he focused his attention just long enough to kiss my cheek. That was all it took, homeward bound with Archie. At home we groomed most of the matted areas, gave him a warm bath and a huge bowl of dog food. For the first two days he paced through the house moaning. At his first vet visit it was determined the moaning was most likely depression and not from physical pain (see video below). The vet was right. The third day he didn’t moan and was more social. By the fourth day he was cuddling up to us on the couch. He was fine with us doing a more detailed grooming session to remove the remaining matted areas and then gave a little happy trot through the living room after his bath.A happy ending
A few weeks in and Archie still had dementia, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was the day we brought him home and he was way more relaxed and happy. Fear has a tricky way of causing massive amounts of stress to an animal. Keep this in mind when deciding if you should adopt a high needs animal or not. It's not until you take the animal out of the stress that you are able to see what the animal is really like. Giving it a chance to express itself in a safe environment is all it takes. Click here to read another senior adoption story. For more photos of our senior dog family visit our Instagram page Love for Senior PawsArchie's Profile Picture on Petfinder
Archie is Timid the First Few Days
Archie Watching the Ellen Show