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Originally Posted by megansmomma  Hello and welcome to YT~thank you for taking care of Bentley and giving him a safe home to live.  Last year I had a little foster by the name of Truman. I am noticing quite a few similarities between Bentley and Truman. He too was very old, picked up by animal control, dirty, weak, blind and had occasional potty accidents in the house toward the end of his life. He also had an anal adenoma that caused problems because when he came to me he was also not fixed. So I would like to give you my interpretation of what might be happening with Bentley. First, you should assume that he is lost and as stated previously try to find his owner. There is a real possibility that he wandered away from home. Unlike a younger dog Bentley is blind and would not have wandered far from home. The condition that you found him in does not mean neglect by his former owners so please do not assume this as a fact. My suggestion would be to take along a friend and go door to door in the area that he was found and you might be able to find where he lives. I don't think that he would have wandered miles from home. Secondly, you need to consider his vet care which could become costly. Please discuss this with your parents if you would need help with costs if he were to need medical attention in the near future. I will speak from my experience with Truman since he seems to be similar to Bentley in these aspects. He was vaccinated, neutered, chipped and had 9 teeth removed once in my care. What did the vet do for him when you took him for a vet visit?
I'd like to address the issue for peeing inside the house. I'm wondering if he is suffering from dementia which happened with Truman toward the very end of his life. He too began to have accidents and there was nothing I could be to prevent them other than him wearing a belly band. The poor little man didn't realize that he was inside my house when he would squat and pee right in front of me. He would walk right through it afterward and not think anything of it at all. When he was in the yard he would walk through poop too. Crating Bentley or putting him in an Xpen will not solve this problem. He just is very old and senile. My suggestion would be to always keep him in a belly band while he is inside your home. You also mentioned that he is wandering your home. This is also a sign on dementia and what Truman did too. He would just wander from room to room and then find his bed and sleep all day. Please know that this behavior is not something that you can expect to change. It will most likely get worse with time. I commend you for wanting to help with little guy and hope that if you cannot find his owners that you will be able to take car of him for the rest of his life. My suggestion would be to sit down and have a long talk with your parents to explain why Bentley has been acting the way that he has. Sadly, I think his days with you are very small.
I'd also like to address the idea that he could be taken to your local shelter for vet care. From my experience and what I see all over this country every day a sick, old, blind dog would not have a chance if dropped at your shelter. It would be cruel to do this to him. He would be scared and alone. Even in NO KILL shelters dogs are still PTS because of medical issues and his cards are not stacked in his favor. IF you do decide that he needs to be placed elsewhere a rescue would be a better choice but even then I would think it would be difficult because of all that is going on with his health. This is a sad fact of reality~but is the truth. 
I would also like to offer a few belly bands for Bentley if you thought that this would help you to be able to keep him with you. Please PM me and I will make get make arrangements for my offer. You seem to be a very sweet and caring girl  |
I agree with Jodi on both these points. I do think it is wonderful you want to help him and think you should keep him with you while you search for owners. There are also other things to consider as she mentioned.
You have to ask yourself what is best for him