A Senior Needs You!

Please Consider Adopting
a Senior!

The stories below are from families that have adopted a senior Shih Tzu.

In search for another Shih Tzu as sweet as Captain America, I called around and looked on the Internet for dogs up for adoption. That's when I found the Stars of Texas website, a fantastic organization that specializes in rescuing Shih Tzus. On the main page was a picture of Angel, an eleven year old, blind dog who needed a good home. Her owner was critically ill and could no longer care for her. She was precious. Actually, she looked a lot like Captain America, so I immediately fell in love with her. My only concern was that she was so old. How would we be able to handle getting attached to a dog that has limited time left? As soon as I shared her story with Mark, he said, "We need to adopt her." It was the response I so desperately wanted to hear. So we completed the application for adoption. Angel was not in foster care yet and was still in her original home waiting to go into a STARS foster home so we drove to Angel's home in Tyler to meet Captain America's new friend, Angel. Luckily, she already had a name…no more silly superhero names for our family!

Angel's family had been unable to properly care for her for some time due to her mom's illness so we took Angel to the vet the next day for a checkup and medical care. She was very underweight, had 6 abscessed teeth, kidney failure, and cataracts covering both of her eyes. I cried the entire way home from the vet that day. Angel was not well. Being used to people-food, she wasn't too thrilled about her prescription diet to help her kidneys, and she refused to eat for several days. But after a few weeks, Angel regained her strength and began eating normally. She was then well enough to get her teeth cleaned and the abscessed teeth removed.

Angel is a fighter. We have had her a year now, and she is very healthy. I can't even begin to explain what a blessing she has been to our family and friends. She's my girl. She sleeps on my pillow at night, and she would sit in my lap all day if I'd let her. She loves to go outside or just bask in the sunlight coming in from the living room window. She loves to travel. In fact, she went with us to Alabama and then to Austin for Christmas. Angel also loves to go to school with me. I teach children with disabilities, and they have learned more from Angel than they will ever learn in a book. They've learned compassion and how to care for animals. They've learned that a disability doesn't have to stop them from following their dreams, and they've learned that life is precious, whether it's human life or animal life. Life is precious.

Why did we adopt Angel? To make the end of her life more comfortable. My husband keeps reminding me of that when I start thinking about how old she is. Hopefully her life is better because we are in it. I know one thing is for sure…ours is better because she is in it. Even though we set out to adopt a puppy a year ago, we are so thankful we were blessed with Angel. What joy she has brought into our lives and into the lives of our friends and my children at school. We couldn't ask for a better dog.

Rosie Sandy Sunshine - Adopted from a shelter

My last little shih-tzu passed away last week at 17 yrs. of age. She was one of the most loveable ,kind animals I ever had. What a joy!  I adopted her at a shelter, broken, dirty, and so sad. She had just gave up on life. I said, to myself, If only I could have that little old dog for just one year, just to make her happy once more in life,i would love it, so I packed her up ,and home we went. That was 6 yrs. ago!

She became a very happy dog, with great fun in life, and then ,yes, the ultimate happened! She really wagged her tail and gave me kisses, and I knew she had really become truly happy. We had great fun together, and I thank god, for my little, loveable, "Rosie Sandy Sunshine" This proves to me , that there is much love and fun left in adopting an older dog.-----Thanks M.Thomas

Lucy (Picture top right) - Adopted March, 2004

Last February our twelve-year-old Shih Tzu, Sushi, died of renal failure. We’d had her since she was a puppy and she grew up with our other dog Haji, a mixed breed. We were devastated and her absence left such a hole in our family. For a month and a half I logged onto the STARS of Texas website everyday and looked at the dogs, read about them and followed their progress. I mostly did it for comfort, but I knew that I eventually wanted to get another Shih Tzu. I wanted Haji to have a companion, but also worried that he would not welcome another dog into our home.

There was one little girl dog that I kept coming back to named Lucy. She was deaf, but otherwise healthy. She was 8-10 years old. I felt that an older dog would be a much better fit for our family and less of a threat to Haji. We arranged for a meeting with Lucy and I was relieved to see Haji’s tail wagging and happy look on his face. He was interested… Lucy didn’t seem to give a hoot about him.

Now we have had Lucy for 5 months and we couldn’t love her more. She is a delight. As older dogs do, she sleeps a lot, so she is not very demanding. That is not to say that she doesn’t have her spunky side. She has this bouncy walk (we hear her jingle all over the house) and is quite the explorer. Her deafness has not been an issue at all... she hears loud noises and responds to clapping. I have never heard her bark. She is missing several teeth, but is still able to eat hard food and she loves her dental chews. She was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which is controlled by medication. I work out of the house so Lucy often curls up under my desk to snooze. She pretty much follows me all over the house. My favorite feature is her very pink tongue that sticks out of her mouth most of the time and gives her a look of constant bewilderment. She is just the right mixture of playful and quiet and is the sweetest, most endearing dog. We are continually amused by her “ways”.

Adopting Lucy was the best medicine after losing Sushi, and we needed her as much as she needed us. I have always been a sucker for puppies, but now I have developed this fondness for older dogs. This has been such a good experience that I know I will seek out the senior dogs from now on. I can’t say enough about the rewards and companionship that have come with adopting Lucy and knowing that we can provide her with a loving home for the remainder of her life.

~~ Catherine

Seniors Looking For A Loving Home

Sweetie Pie - approx 10 yrs old, requires daily prescription eye moisture drops Email us for more information

Katy - Approx 9 yrs old Email us for more information