We adopted 10 year old Ladybug, a tricolored French Brittany, from a foster home in Davis, California last month. She is adorable and very active for her age. We have lost 3 senior dogs in the past year and we and our 5 year old lab, Piper, were sad in our grief and loneliness for our friends who went to the Rainbow Bridge. We decided to adopt a senior Brittany and a senior Golden. We got Ladybug a month ago and 12 year old Goldendoodle, Chelsea, 3 weeks ago. Piper was always a wanna be Alpha, so this might be her chance. But first Ladybug put her in her place. Then Chelsea put her in her place. Then Ladybug fought it out with Chelsea (A lot of growling, snarling and teeth, but no blood, thank God). In the end, the 3 girls worked it out: 32# Ladybug is the Alpha; Chelsea is next in line, and Piper is bottom dog again.
We also have 5 cats (3 of them are seniors). Ladybug is not a cat chaser, but she moves around the house and yard so fast that the cats thought they were being chased. We used baby gates to help the cats have a safe dog free area in the house. We also put a tall cat tree and high boardwalk and platform under the cabana for the cats to have an escape route and safe observation area in the back yard. Chelsea came to us with a cat chasing problem. My senior cats have been through this before and stood their ground. In a record day and half Chelsea learned the lesson. My six year old kitty, Agate, still doesn’t trust Chelsea and stays on the safe side of the gates 90% of the time, but she is getting braver.
We are retired and have time to give these senior girls the extra time and attention they want and need. My husband, Rod, spends most of his days in our large fenced yard taking care of the landscaping, garden and Koi ponds. He has the 3 girls as his entourage.
We adopted a ten year old Brittany, Molly, from the rescue in the past. She was a sweet girl who lived to be 14 years old and is with 20+ dogs waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.
Thank you for rescuing Brittanys so we could adopt them.
Janet and Rod Camprini
Sacramento, California.