A woman was waiting to get a puppy — then a “sweet” senior dog stole her heart.
The woman adopted 13-year-old Mickey, giving him a second chance after his previous owner died, according to the Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida.
“We are sorry he lost his dad, but so happy he gained a mom who loves him like she had him his whole life,” the animal rescue wrote April 15 in a Facebook post.
Mickey started his next chapter after he experienced the “heartbreaking” loss of his owner in November. He was left without a home, and the rescue said he was in “desperate need of help.”
Then, a woman agreed to foster the senior dog. She reportedly had lost two of her pets and “was on our wait list for a young dog or puppy, not wanting to go through the grief again so soon.”
But the foster mom soon fell for Mickey, who “wooed his new family” with his personality.
“He joined their family and went on vacations,” Lynette Malinchak, a board member and foster and medical coordinator, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “He just was so sweet and so good.”
Mickey, who had been underweight with skin and eye infections, also started recovering after he came to the rescue. His foster mom decided she “didn’t want to uproot him” and became his owner in April, according to the animal organization.
“We love all adoptions but when the seniors who might have some medical challenges get adopted, it’s the best part,” Malinchak said.
And it turns out, the foster mom got her puppy too. So, Mickey has a “new sister to teach and keep him young.”
The rescue is based in Bonita Springs, a roughly 25-mile drive south from Fort Myers.
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