This is Cyrus – he is a Great Dane (maybe mix?) around eight years old. He weighs a skinny 100 pounds, but I’m not putting too much more weight on him for the well-being of his joints.
Cyrus was left at a county shelter in South Carolina. This is one of my favorite shelters to work with – they hate rescues, won’t allow evaluations, and really can’t be bothered to hold any dog past its euthanasia date. I sure hope y’all get my sarcasm.
Anyways, Cyrus’s “family” left him with nothing – not a collar, not a name, not a damn clue anything about him other than they just didn’t want him anymore. So, when his time was up and no other rescue had raised their hand, I did. I’ve mentioned it before, but I really, really can’t stand when people leave old dogs to die in a shelter. When I picked him up from the adoption center, he sat beside me and leaned up against me with that big ol’ body of his, and I could just feel the tension melt out of him.
Cyrus came with good news and bad news. The good news – he was heartworm negative, and oh so sweet and friendly! Cyrus loves dogs, cats, kids, you name it. He’s pretty awesome. The bad news – Cyrus’s back end doesn’t work too well, and he tends to loose balance and fall a lot. The vet thinks it’s a neurological thing, not a joint issue. On solid ground, Cyrus is perfect, but he has trouble navigating stairs, hardwood floors, and tight spaces.
Cyrus is, of course, looking for a home. It’s hard to place senior dogs, especially ones like Cy who already come with the signs of aging. Cyrus doesn’t know he’s old, or that he’s “damaged goods”. He just wants a nice bed to sleep on and somebody to lean up against. He loves going on walks – he actually loves running in the back yard, too. He goes pretty fast for an old man.
Cyrus is fully vetted and microchipped.
For information about adopting Cyrus, contact me here!
Dog Hair & Bourbon 
Did Cyrus ever get adopted?
Not yet. He’s in a different foster home now but still looking for a forever family.
I adopted an old dog from our local animal shelter in 2011. His name is Duke and he’s a purebred, now neutered Miniature Pinscher. He came to the shelter with Jazz and they were a breeding pair. She got adopted out right away, Duke got adopted out twice already before I got there and returned twice. The animal shelter has a three strike rule and upon his third return he’d be euthanized. So…I was alone with him in a holding pen so I could better evaluate his temperament before I could adopt him. I have a little yorkie at home that I do not want bullied. Anyway, this young woman and her 15 month old son came into the enclosure we were in and said she also was interested. I truly believe that every dog has a forever home and she and her family might be a better fit. Who can resist a baby boy being raised with a dog that potentially could shape his development? If its the right dog, that is. I told the Animal control lady that this woman obviously really wants this dog and would give up my interest in him…for the moment anyways. I had a suspicion that it might not work out and I asked the Animal Control lady what would happen if it didn’t and he came back. Would I be able to come back and save him or not? She frowned and said that’s against the rules. I told her that the dogs temperament is fine and that I can retrain him. Whatever the reason is that he was returned….I can “Fix” him. Then she smiled and said okay, we’ll see but that she can’t call me I just have to keep checking back. That didn’t really make much sense to me because the holding area for dogs to be euthanized are not viewable by the public, so when the woman left with Duke I gave her my phone number and asked her to give me a call if she decides to return him.
She did. Apparently, Duke’s not a fan of small children and bit her kid.She also didn’t say that she had a unneutered German Shepherd. Sheez woman, are you kidding me? Really? Both breeds are territorial and that usually doesn’t work out to well for the small, older dog!
I picked him up within a hour, paid my $20 fee, filled out my form and was on my way home with Duke. My husband had always wanted a Doberman Pinscher and since Duke looked like a smaller version of one, I told my husband that he was a little Pinscher. Not a lie exactly….lol
Duke had aggression issues. Food aggression, dominance aggression, and small kid aggression…bikes etc. You name it he didn’t like it, except other dogs. Apparently he was king tut with many other bitches around so other dogs, especially females dogs he just smelled then and moved on. Never once was he aggressive towards my Yorkie, Belle and he’s a great dog park dog. Never trouble causing, and submissive when necessary to stay out of trouble. He’s is a little slow and has since been relegated to the small dog area of the dog park. This will be his last year in the dog park – doc won’t give him any more Distemper shots! Weird? That’s something new I learned…. And we bought that purebred Doberman Pinscher once my husband figured out that Duke wasn’t going to get any bigger. We had Duke two-three years before we got the dobie and he, Roscoe is over a year old now. They both get along…for the most part but they do clamor over my husband’s attention. But Duke’s still with us. He’s going fine and for the most part enjoying his retirement! His doctor said they live to about 15 years old and he’s that now but I can’t see him giving up so quickly…not now since he’s got the sweet life. lol