Since I barked at you last I celebrated a birthday.

I can't say that I actually had a birthday because I don't know for sure when it is.  That's the trouble with getting adopted as an adult dog.  But that's the only downside I can think of.  In fact the bosses can't think of too many downsides to adopting adult dogs either.  There are so many good parts to adopting an older dog.  Sure, you miss out on some of that cute puppy stuff but you also "miss out" on housetraining, teething, and adolescent insouciance.  I for one have never had an accident in the house.  How many puppies can say that? 

And then there's the argument about how we dogs don't live long enough anyway, so if you adopt an older dog it just means you'll get to the heartbreaking part sooner.  I say, "Bah!"  First of all, none of us really knows how long we have here.  So it behooves us to make the most of whatever time we have whether we're young or old.  And I always make a point of packing in all the lovin' I can give to make up for those lost puppy years.

The birthday problem is easily solved too.  We pick a day and we celebrate!  What could be better?  No downsides here.

As long as we're barking about adoption, why don't you check out this book:  Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives they Transform, by Karin Winegar with (very pretty) pictures by Judy Olausen.  (Around here we always make sure to give props to the photographers.)  It's a collection of stories about rescued animals--dogs, cats, horses, even birds, and the people who rescue them.  Of course the people who rescue these animals often find themselves rescued or saved in some way, too.

I found the stories about birds among the most interesting.  Listen to this:  "What people should know before they get an exotic bird, according to Eileen McCarthy, is this:  it's like having a three-year-old with a sharp object you can never take away.  And this child--who is tireless and has a voice like a siren when provoked--requires room to run fifteen to twenty miles a day.  He has special needs. And he lives for thirty-five to eighty years." 

The story of the two 3-legged Great Pyrenees who live with hospice and foster care patients will touch your heart.  The one about the tough as nails prison warden who moved the inmates into tents so rescued animals could live in air-conditioned converted prison cells will inspire you.  Check it out!