I'm 52. Just got my second dog in January. She is 4 -- a rescue toy poodle from a bad puppy mill situation. She is doing amazing.

You don't have to get a puppy -- you can always get an older dog. You can even be an angel and adopt a very old dog who just needs a comfy place to lie their head and a bit of love for the next year or so. No need to commit to 15 years when so many rescue dogs need homes.

We have a 5 year old and an 8 year old dog and we just turned 70 and are very healthy. We take them hiking daily, and they go to dog school. They're 75 and 80 pounds and don't seem too big to us.

After they're no longer with us, I'd like to foster either dogs or cats from the shelter, because I can't imagine being without them. Since we also have horses, we never go anywhere anyway.

I think getting a dog in your mid-50s is entirely reasonable. But thank you for thinking of this. My early 70s parents who are not in fantastic health and got a puppy (a smaller breed who lives a while) and have made comments to me about how I can take care of him someday if they’re not around. Even though I already have kids and pets of my own to look after. We are not planning to get more pets when ours pass on. The assumption I’ll take their dog feels unfair, but I also doubt I could see the dog sent to a shelter so we probably will if we need to. But it’s selfish all around.

At 60 I said no more - we had a 10 year old little dog and a 6 year old large lab. A year and a half into covid, got the covid puppy.

When my 13-year-old Lab mix dies, I will go dogless for a bit so I can travel at will.

I just turned 50 and if things turn out like I hope, my 49 year old husband and I are going to be adopting a 70 pound, 1 year old dog today.

We just lost our beloved big mutt about four months ago, after having him for 13 years. If we get 13 years with a new dog, we'll be i our early-mid 60s when we're faced with this decision again.

And what we do will depend on so many factors! What our lives are like, what our health is like, our mobility, our finances. If we have someone in our lives who could take a dog, if gd forbid something were to happen to us.

What folks are saying about the tradeoffs of having pets is totally right - on the one hand, your day to day life is a million, zillion times better with a dog there; and on the other, it's much harder to travel, or even just go out for a whole day.

My 80-something year old parents have decided not to get another dog, since our last family dog died 10 years ago, because my mom wouldn't be able to do any of the walking - and also because they want to be able to travel without worrying about pet care.

I guess another thing to consider is that pets do bring health benefits, including for older people. They really help with loneliness and isolation - and they also will keep you more active, since you have to walk them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dilemma is traveling. Once kids are out of the house, I’d like to travel more. But I feel guilty leaving pets for extended periods of time.

This is a big consideration. My parents were late 50s when their last dog passed away, and they decided to prioritize travel even though day to day they would have loved another dog.

This is why I do not want to commit to another dog. Maybe after I get the wanderlust out of my system, I'll want a dog but will definitely think about life span.

My mother is 67 and has a young small dog that will live another 10-12 years likely. My sister and I both have dogs and could take my mom’s if we needed to. This one will be her last dog, obviously.

To me, the size is a big factor. Lower exercise needs generally, and of life with a larger dog takes a lot of physical effort. Even a 75 year old woman can easily carry a <10 pound dog.

My in-laws like big dogs and traveling. They didn’t get another after their last dogs died in their early 60s. They love to dog sit ours though!

Anonymous wrote:My dilemma is traveling. Once kids are out of the house, I’d like to travel more. But I feel guilty leaving pets for extended periods of time.

This is a big consideration. My parents were late 50s when their last dog passed away, and they decided to prioritize travel even though day to day they would have loved another dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me (50s) it's not so much whether a dog as how big a dog. My current beast is a 60-lb mutt, and from day to day it's fine. But as he gets older and needs to be lifted or carried, I'll be getting reminders that the next dog needs to be under 30 lbs

I’m a big dog person, but we’re in our 50s now, and next dog has to be more portable. I used to hate small dogs, but have fostered some tiny ones that stole my heart, so am much more open to the idea than I thought I would be.

Tell me more about the small dogs that you have liked (another big dog person here, but knowing smaller will be better in the future).

Dh 74, me 63. We have two sixty five pound dogs and have fully discussed these being our last two dogs. I handle (lovingly) the bulk of everything but I recognize the limitations. Our oldest dc who is established will take both of them should anything happen to us. I can’t imagine not having a plan in place.

Anonymous wrote:For me (50s) it's not so much whether a dog as how big a dog. My current beast is a 60-lb mutt, and from day to day it's fine. But as he gets older and needs to be lifted or carried, I'll be getting reminders that the next dog needs to be under 30 lbs

I’m a big dog person, but we’re in our 50s now, and next dog has to be more portable. I used to hate small dogs, but have fostered some tiny ones that stole my heart, so am much more open to the idea than I thought I would be.

My IL’s are 75 and were gifted a puppy. It’s a lot and not what they would have picked, but they do enjoy her.

I was just having this conversation with DH yesterday! Thank you for starting this thread.
We are two years away from empty nest, will be 53/54 then. Like others have said, I was wondering if I could have a home with no dogs. Our home has had 2 65-ish pound labs or lab mixes for over 20 years.
For me it’s the size, but then also having to make arrangements for them anytime we go out of town.
We are leaning toward a smaller breed and then also maybe one that doesn’t shed so the dog can be taken with us more easily when we travel to see family, perhaps care for our parents in the future, etc. I never thought I would consider a dog other than a lab or a lab mix but I think we need to start thinking about a dog that can be incorporated into this next period of our lives. Better for us and then of course better for the dog if he or she doesn’t need to be left home that much. Current dogs are 9 and 11.