A lively old man

Vince is probably about 10 years old.  He's an old man, there's no denying it, but he's pretty lively for an old guy.  He's a fast runner for relatively short distances, faster if he's coming inside, which is where he really wants to be. 


Vince lives indoors with our guys, mostly in my office.  His routine is simple.  When I let him out of the crate in the morning he goes outside to pee and run around a bit (I don't put him into the dog yard), and he eats his softened food.  Two of the neighbors' dogs from across the road often come over and see Vince.  He's fine with them, but it sure sets off all our other dogs in the dog yard or the kennels.  I usually let Vince run around the yard while I feed everyone else.  That's pretty much it for his daily exercise, but he does quite a bit of running out there in the morning, it's not a leisurely stroll.  He comes back inside with me and proceeds to lay under my feet or be as close to me as possible.  About an hour later, whether he's loose in the house or in a crate, he starts agitating about wanting something.  He wants to go out, and I let him, because that's his time to poop.  Vince has never had an accident in the house.  He goes as far away from the house as possible to do his business, then he immediately wants back inside.  If you ever put Vince out when he doesn't want to go, or leave him out past the time he's ready to come in, he throws himself against the door until someone comes to let him in. 


He may go out one or twice more during the day or evening to relieve himself, but basically Vince wants to be inside, at my feet, all the time.  He's easy, he's certainly devoted, he's housetrained, crates readily, and he's even good with cats.  He has seen our cat and completely ignores her, just going about his own business.  I haven't taken him to an adoption event yet as I'm not sure how he will do in public with people or with dogs.  When he was at the shelter he was somewhat unpredictable.  He's basically fine here, but he did go after Bremo a couple times for reasons I could not understand.  I think I set him straight on that.  Vince is a bit anxious and scared of new people and dogs, I think.  He likes a settled routine in familiar surroundings, but he's very adaptable.  He can live with other dogs but he doesn't need them; he would be happiest as an only dog, having all the attention to himself.  He has the worst thunderstorm fear of any dog around here.  He pants and drools, and wants to be even closer than usual.  I don't know about his adoption prospects, but he's a pretty easy keeper so he may just be here for the duration.  He would be such a great companion for an older person who wants a low maintenance dog around for company.  Unfortunately, they all seem to want young dogs.  What's up with that?  I still need to have his teeth looked at.