The Oldies Club is a dog rescue, run solely by volunteers, that specialises in rescuing and rehoming older dogs – aged 7 years plus.
We first came into existence in the Spring of 2005, and then in March 2007 the Oldies Club proudly became Registered Charity number 1118246.
We do not have kennels or a central base as, rather than placing our dogs in kennels, we prefer to care for them in a normal home environment. We therefore place dogs in foster homes, where they are assessed and receive all veterinary treatment they need before being advertised on the website for rehoming.
Our foster homes are spread around the country and each of them has been carefully checked. Before we place a dog in a foster home, we try, as far as possible, to ensure that we know the likes, dislikes and needs of the dog to ensure the foster home is one it will be happy in.
Ernie, happy in his foster home
Once an oldie has been assessed in its foster home and been vet-checked, we advertise it on our website Dogs in Oldies Club Care page, for permanent rehoming. Some oldies arrive in poor condition, or they become very ill while in our care, and so these poor old souls remain in a loving Oldies Club foster home permanently and become Sponsor Dogs.
Dogs come into our care from a variety of situations, many of them very urgent as the oldie has nowhere else to go and is therefore at risk. Dogs often come to us because their elderly owner has had to go into sheltered accommodation where dogs are not allowed. Sometimes the dog’s owner has died and there is no-one that can take care of their beloved dog, and sometimes the owner’s circumstances have changed and the owner simply can no longer give their dog the care it needs.
About our website
An important part of the ethos of the Oldies Club is that as well as working hard to help our own oldies, we also aim to help older dogs that find themselves in other rescues. So, as well as advertising our own dogs for rehoming, we also offer a free service to other rescues of advertising their older dogs on our website. We have a number of dedicated web team volunteers who aim to write interesting, informative website entries from the information provided by rescues.
You will see that the Oldies Club’s own dogs are advertised alongside other rescues’ dogs on our Adopt an Oldie and Overlooked Oldies pages. We cannot deal with enquiries about dogs that are in the care of other rescues, so you need to check the contact details at the bottom of a dog’s website entry. If you just want to see the dogs that are in the care of the Oldies Club, these are the Dogs in Oldies Club care.
Our history
The Oldies Club rescue grew from an initial idea on an internet dog chat forum by a group of people who felt great empathy with the plight of elderly dogs that find themselves homeless.
The initial inspiration behind the idea was a 13-year-old collie we called Ted. Ted was blind in one eye and was terrified in the noisy, stark pound environment. He had to stay in kennels as a stray for 7 days but when no owner came forward to claim him, steps were taken to get Ted into a domestic situation immediately. Once in a foster home Ted thrived, the skinny dull-coated nervous boy became a healthy, active and rejuvenated character and became a star of the internet.
Ted and devoted foster dad Jim
Ted’s story generated so much support and sympathy that this old boy who nobody had wanted soon had many offers of loving permanent homes. It was felt that this support and enthusiasm could be channelled into helping other older dogs that found themselves in need of rehoming.
Ted and his beloved forever mum Ann at an Oldies Club event
Getting involved
If you would like to help us, please fill in our Questionnaire.
Alternatively, you might like to help us by making a donation. Thank you!