trying1tohelp1
New member
My partner and I are planning to adopt a dog this year and while it wasn't our pan originally to adopt a senior, my heart has been stolen by a sweet 9 y/o ACD named Aspen. She's been rehomed once and then surrendered another time due to circumstances that had absolutely nothing to do with her/her behavior. It just seems like she's never been made a priority by her previous owners and it breaks my heart.
I've grown up with heelers as family pets/farm dogs (with our most recent, Hootie, passing at 11 years in 2020 from health issues leaving my family too heartbroken to get another just yet) so I'm familiar with ACD behavior, energy levels, needs, etc. But this girl would be my first ACD in an apartment and my partner's first ACD ever.
My partner works from home 2 days a week and is switching to full time wfh in a few months, and I work first shift so she'd only be by herself for 6ish hours due three days a week. We'll be able to dedicate the better part of afternoons and all evening to being with her. I'll also still have access to farms to bring her out to on weekends for her to run and herd to her heart's content. My apartment complex also has a medium sized dog park that'd be good for daily fetch/zoomies and I plan on finding lots of brain puzzles to keep her mentally stimulated too. We also live in an area with several larger dog parks and national parks. So overall I feel like we can provide a good home for this girl despite being in an apartment (plus we're looking to upgrade to renting a townhouse or home with a yard next year).
The only catches are that I have a few health conditions and chronic pain that make being super active a bit tricky, and while my partner is willing to pick up the slack when I have a bad flare up, they travel a decent amount for work (like once a month or so) so I'm a bit worried about giving her the play time she deserves if a bad pain day lines up with my partner being away. I think doing some treadmill training could work as supplement for basic exercise for that situation so any resources on that would be much appreciated.
Besides that my partner is also super hesitant about adopting a senior. We have access to pet insurance through work so I'm confident we can support any medical needs she might have over time. Still, their one and only childhood dog is still around and kicking so they've never experienced any kind of pet loss before and they're very scared of going through that, so I'd also appreciate any words of wisdom for that too.
TL;DR: sweet senior ACD needs a home and someone to give their whole heart to her but we live in an apartment, I'm somewhat disabled, and my partner is scared of pet loss. I'm pretty sure I've thought through solutions to most of the problems but could use encouragement and any further advice.
UPDATE: Hi yall! First, me n my partner just wanted to say that you for all the advice and well wishes. They mean a lot and while we were pretty confident before about providing for her, you've just boosted us even more. Second, we filled out the first of two applications to adopt Aspen last night!! We have to wait for the rescue to review it and contact our references before filling out another more detailed application specific to Aspen and then hopefully we can go get our girl! We're both so excited so keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll definitely keep yall posted! Thank you again for all the encouragement
I've grown up with heelers as family pets/farm dogs (with our most recent, Hootie, passing at 11 years in 2020 from health issues leaving my family too heartbroken to get another just yet) so I'm familiar with ACD behavior, energy levels, needs, etc. But this girl would be my first ACD in an apartment and my partner's first ACD ever.
My partner works from home 2 days a week and is switching to full time wfh in a few months, and I work first shift so she'd only be by herself for 6ish hours due three days a week. We'll be able to dedicate the better part of afternoons and all evening to being with her. I'll also still have access to farms to bring her out to on weekends for her to run and herd to her heart's content. My apartment complex also has a medium sized dog park that'd be good for daily fetch/zoomies and I plan on finding lots of brain puzzles to keep her mentally stimulated too. We also live in an area with several larger dog parks and national parks. So overall I feel like we can provide a good home for this girl despite being in an apartment (plus we're looking to upgrade to renting a townhouse or home with a yard next year).
The only catches are that I have a few health conditions and chronic pain that make being super active a bit tricky, and while my partner is willing to pick up the slack when I have a bad flare up, they travel a decent amount for work (like once a month or so) so I'm a bit worried about giving her the play time she deserves if a bad pain day lines up with my partner being away. I think doing some treadmill training could work as supplement for basic exercise for that situation so any resources on that would be much appreciated.
Besides that my partner is also super hesitant about adopting a senior. We have access to pet insurance through work so I'm confident we can support any medical needs she might have over time. Still, their one and only childhood dog is still around and kicking so they've never experienced any kind of pet loss before and they're very scared of going through that, so I'd also appreciate any words of wisdom for that too.
TL;DR: sweet senior ACD needs a home and someone to give their whole heart to her but we live in an apartment, I'm somewhat disabled, and my partner is scared of pet loss. I'm pretty sure I've thought through solutions to most of the problems but could use encouragement and any further advice.
UPDATE: Hi yall! First, me n my partner just wanted to say that you for all the advice and well wishes. They mean a lot and while we were pretty confident before about providing for her, you've just boosted us even more. Second, we filled out the first of two applications to adopt Aspen last night!! We have to wait for the rescue to review it and contact our references before filling out another more detailed application specific to Aspen and then hopefully we can go get our girl! We're both so excited so keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll definitely keep yall posted! Thank you again for all the encouragement