I was just thinking why I like senior dogs so much and would only adopt one of those if I were looking for another dog. To begin with, a senior dog is not a fifteen year commitment as a younger dog is. Senior dogs are almost always trained, calm, grateful and easy to care for. Few of us knows exactly where and exactly how we will be in fifteen years. I prefer to plan in smaller chunks of time. Many people with kids think they have to get a young dog, but when the kids get busy with friends in high school or go off to college, there sits the dog, used to a lot of activity and attention that he/she is no longer getting. Everyone is too busy.
The last dog I had, my late husband and I adopted when she was ten and a half. We had five and a half wonderful years with her. She was a delight and so easy to live with. I wish more people would just go and look at all the marvelous senior dogs waiting for new homes in shelters, rescue groups and breed specific rescue groups, if that is your preference. So many of these dogs were acquired during the lockdowns of Covid. When their guardians resumed their normal lives, many of these hapless canines were then considered superfluous to the now busier lives of their new owners. Unfortunately for the dogs, they were not considered as important as they had been. Please give a senior a chance; I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised.