Everyone knows the joy that puppies bring: the excitement, the boisterousness and the overwhelming cuteness. And understandably, when plenty of people plan to add a dog to their family, they insist on taking home an adorable little puppy. As a result, many ageing canines in animal shelters around the country are overlooked in favour of their younger counterparts.
But recent years have seen an increasing number of Australians choosing to avoid the tumultuous puppy years altogether and adopt an older dog, like Piper. “We actually found Piper on the street in western Sydney in a bad way — very little fur, bony, cataracts, obvious growths, arthritis and signs of senility,” says Jennifer Duke, who is the proud owner of two other dogs and 10 cats. “Despite this, she was surprisingly…
