10 Years in Shelter: The Senior Dog Desperate for a Loving Home
Every dog deserves the chance to be part of a loving family for their entire lifetime. Unfortunately, many deserving dogs spend years in shelters or rescues, never experiencing the warmth and comfort of a real home.
Shorty, a 13-year-old English Staffordshire mix with a heart full of love, loyalty, and boundless energy, is one of these overlooked yet deserving dogs. For more than a decade, he has waited patiently in his kennel, hoping someone will finally choose him. This sweet-faced senior arrived at the rescue as a two-year-old, and nearly 11 years later, he remains without a home. It’s hard to imagine anything more heartbreaking.
Unfortunate Beginnings
Shorty is currently a resident at Paw Parent, an animal rescue based in Lancaster, CA. However, Shorty’s first brush with the shelter life didn’t start here. Before coming to Paw Parent in the summer of 2020, Shorty was a resident in a different rescue organization that took him in as a stray. Sadly, this particular rescue closed down, and that’s when Paw Parent stepped in.
Shorty arrived at Paw Parent when he was nine years old, and even though staff here love him deeply, the fact that he’s not hit the forever home jackpot all these years makes their hearts ache for him.
Pre-Adoption Heartbreak
Isabell Csaki, founder and president of Paw Parent, tells us that Shorty once captured the heart of a potential adopter, whom they thought would finally halt Shorty’s prolonged stay at the rescue. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as they hoped.
“He has gotten one application through the internet in 2021, but it never came to fruition. His potential adopter came to visit him a few times and loved him, but her life was in financial disarray, and she ended up not adopting him,” Isabell shared.
One would expect a dog like Shorty to be in the pits of hopelessness after waiting for a forever home without luck. Surprisingly, he still radiates optimism for a happy ending and often strives to keep it together, whether he’s in his kennel or at adoption events. And even though he’s surrounded by people who never hesitate to show him love every day, Shorty won’t stop wishing for a chance to enjoy the rest of his life in a real home.
Typically, his mornings start with him being taken for a walk before he spends the better part of his day at the rescue’s spacious yard.
Shorty’s Counting on You for His Happy Ending
Staff at Paw Parent already know Shorty inside out, given the length of time he’s been with them. Besides his infectious smile, he has the biggest heart that dishes out unlimited affection to anyone who interacts with him.
Shorty is a people-friendly, playful pup who’ll, more often than not, greet you with a ball stuffed in his mouth. He enjoys car rides & walks, has a hearty appetite for treats, takes playtime with his cherished balls seriously, and loves receiving and unwrapping gifts.
His greatest weakness, you may ask? Rattlesnakes. Shorty’s fascination with rattlesnakes is out of this world; he just can’t resist the urge to go after every rattlesnake he spots, even though he’s been bitten several times. “We take him to a rattlesnake avoidance clinic every year, but he just doesn’t want to learn to stay away from them,” Isabell reveals.
Shorty would flourish in a home where he’s the only pet because he’d love to have his favorite human (s) all to himself. If you’d like to give this loveable, gray-muzzled mutt the forever home he’s been yearning for all these years, please reach out to Paw Parent for more details on his adoption process.
