HOw do you go about

smkie

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#1
adopting a retired service animal? I have a friend who's elderly grandfather is in need of a elderly trained dog. He lives on a farm and is a compassionate and responsible owner with family support.
 

bubbatd

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#2
I guess you could contact the groups that provide . I've never thought of the retired ones ....I thought they were with the families forever .
 

MicksMom

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#4
You can apply for a retired or drop out dog from The Seeing Eye through their website. But there's a heck of a waiting list- years.
 

smkie

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#5
I figured there was a waiting list. Didn't know it would be years. Ok I will pass along the info.
 

Gena

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#6
What about looking at retired show dogs? Mom's cavalier was a show boy who didn't quite have enough outgoing attitude for showing. They retired him at 4 after pouring tons of work into him. He's a joy to be around, but just a bit shy with strangers. I think it took Mom about 2 weeks to correct a few house habits she didn't like. If the breeder doesn't operate dogs-in-kennels style, then the dogs are *usually* trained to be good family members.
 

lizzybeth727

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#7
I guess you could contact the groups that provide . I've never thought of the retired ones ....I thought they were with the families forever .
Once they're too old to do their job, usually they are retired. Often the partner keeps the dog the remainder of it's life, but sometimes that's not possible (especially if,for example, the organization where the person wants to get his next dog from requires that there be no other dog in the house). In that case, the best situation is for the dog to be rehomed to a close friend/family member so that the partner can visit periodically, but sometimes this is not possible either. In THAT case, the dog will go back to the organization that trained it and the organization will rehome it.

That said, it's going to be very unlikely that you'll find a suitable dog, since there are so few available. It's also extremely possible that the dog will have chronic health problems that the adoptive home will be responsible for. My organization recently got a retired dog back, the dog had seizures and other health problems; he actually died about 6 weeks after leaving his home.

IMO, your best bet would be to find a rescue group that has older dogs. My friend rescues elderly dogs from elderly people who go into nursing homes/hospitals/etc., and it is very difficult for her to find adoptive homes for these dogs.
 

smkie

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#8
Thank you for the retired show dog idea. I will pass that along!
 

Lilavati

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#9
If he wants a specific breed, or has an idea about breed, try the breed rescues, too. The Cardigan rescue gets a lot of older dogs, many of which are wonderful! We looked at a few, and the only problem is that they were too old to be good companions to Sarama . . . but they would be perfect for any human who wanted a well-behaved, trained, good mannered dog.
 

smkie

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#11
I emailed my friend this link. Hopefully she can find the right dog for her grandfather with all of your help. THanks again.
 

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