Anyone have a soft spot for meek, deaf, cuddly senior dogs?  

Cleo, is a beautiful Lhasa Apso - 15 years old- whose owner passed away and whose best buddy sadly needed to be put down due to health issues related to age. She is meek and gentle and very good with other dogs (who aren't too bouncy), enjoys cuddling with kitties and does very well with kids who know how to be gentle. She just wants a soft, warm spot to sleep and family who will love her unconditionally.

Since Cleo can become very insecure when left alone completely by herself (she always had her canine buddy to keep her company), Cleo will likely do best with someone who can either take her with them to their work, be home with her during the day or have alternate arrangements made for her to have a companion. Alternatively, if she has another mellow canine buddy to hang out with we have found that she will also be fine in that situation when left home for a few hours at a time.  

Cleo tends to move about with a little bit of what we call 'a wiggle and a walk' but her limbs are sound and she has no troubles going for a slow and leisurely walk- indeed, she absolutely adores them! The only signs of any physical health issues due to her age the vet has noted are just a touch of arthritis in her right rear leg and a little bit of sight loss due to some early cataracts. But Cleo can move very quickly when she has a mind to and even though she may have some minor troubles with depth perception at night or in low light situations this does not seem to slow her down too much. Her largest obstacle would probably be managing stairs- she CAN do them but she has to stop and think about the situation for a minute before taking the plunge. A home with fewer steps that she would need to navigate would probably be the best choice for her.  

The other thing to note is that (although not formally tested) we believe that Cleo is very likely deaf since she does not react or respond/ startle to any noises or sounds. Again, though, this does not appear to bother her as she has a tendency to want to follow you (and other dogs) about, anyway. Getting her attention with a body movement or hand gesture is not hard to do.  

Cleo's gentle personality also makes it very easy to direct her physically using a leash attached to her harness. And, as she is very used to being in a relatively chaotic environment with children and other dogs running about, she does not startle when you go to pet her even though she may not have heard you coming. Instead, she will push her head into your hands to have her ears ruffled and even roll over for a belly rub.  

We believe that Cleo is fully housebroken (although – as an older dog- you'll want to make sure that she does go out every few hours). Please keep in mind that -again due to her age- it may take her just a little bit longer then a younger dog to learn your desired potty routine. While she is learning, she may well have an accident or two but we have found that after a few weeks of consistency she has adjusted very well in our home. Once she learns the routine, Cleo will also let you know when she needs to go out by standing or sitting by the appropriate door. At night, she loves to lie in bed with you and curl around your feet. In fact, she enjoys sleeping with us so much that we often find that we have to wake her up in the morning to go out- when she would obviously prefer to 'sleep in'.

In short, our Cleo is just a very nice, mellow girl who has had the misfortune of losing her lifelong owner and is now searching for just the right family who will continue to love, cherish and enjoy her as the gentle, sweet girl that she is.

The petfinder.com system requires that we choose a predominant breed or breed mix for our dogs. Visual breed identification in dogs is unreliable so for most of the dogs we are only guessing at predominant breed or breed mix. We get to know each dog as an individual and will do our best to describe each of our dogs based on personality, not by breed label.