Commentary: The joy and heartbreak of adopting a senior dog

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Set us as preferred Cosmo and Hook came into my life in the summer of 2020.My wife, Delilah, found them on the website of Frosted Faces Foundation, a nonprofit in the northern San Diego County town of Ramona that rescues senior dogs.She immediately wanted the furry Yorkie and the skinny Chihuahua; I didn’t.Adopting pets in the winter of their lives seemed like a quick heartbreak only a masochist would want, I argued.

We didn’t need any more burdens, emotional or financial.Cosmo and Hook were 10 and had health issues when Frosted Faces took them in from pounds in Riverside and San Diego counties, respectively.

Cosmo had recently lost an eye; Hook was born with a clubfoot.Both needed immediate dental surgery.

“But that’s why we need to adopt them,” Delilah said.“They don’t have much time left, so we need to give them all the lovies we can.”We met the two for the first time, at the same time.

Cosmo let us pet him, then approached Hook.He lunged at Cosmo, who didn’t even flinch.They came home with us the same day.It began with a geriatric black-Lab mix who’d been picked up as a stray and locked in a cage at the South Los Angeles animal shelter.

The problems compounded with each passing week.Cosmo itched so much from allergies that he constantly scratched himself raw and unleashed a howl when we were gone for too long, so loud and haunting that my neighbor thought it was a siren.

Hook frequently forsook food for the cat poop he always seemed to find on our lawn and in our backyard.Hook always wanted to bite Cosmo with his few remaining yellowed, tiny teeth that Delilah compared to candy corn.

Cosmo always looked for any crack in our home to try to bolt away.I grumbled and complained while Delilah instantly fell in love.

But as the months went on and they settled in, this canine version of “The Odd Coup...