Why Carol Kane Recommends Rescuing Older Dogs If ‘You're a Slightly Older Person’ (Exclusive)

Carol Kane calls rescuing an older dog “a wonderful thing.”

“The last two babies I had were quite a bit older when we got together,” Kane, 72, tells PEOPLE exclusively: Johnny, who she had for years and who sadly passed away six months ago, and Dainty before that.

The latter dog, the Oscar nominee recalls, “was so old, blind and weak when I got her. And they all said, ‘It’s a hospice situation.’ Well, she lived another solid five years after we got together.”

Kane’s advice to potential dog owners is to be open to all options. “It’s a wonderful thing if you might want to rescue an older dog,” she says, “because a lot of people don’t want them, because they want a quote-unquote, ‘cute puppy.’ But a puppy won’t stay a puppy, so it’s a bad idea anyway!”

Plus, there’s what Kane calls “the laziness thing about getting an older dog. . . . They’ve already been mostly housebroken and they’re not going to be teething.”

Even older dogs do not require as much physical activity as puppies. “If you have a young dog, you really have to walk them long and hard, they need a lot of exercise,” Kane explains. “And if you have an older dog and you’re” — she pauses to find the right word — “a little bit of an older person, there’s a rhythm that fits really well.”

Carol Kane and her dog Johnny in 2015.

Amanda Edwards/WireImage

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The older pup “really needs a welcome and is very grateful for it,” Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt the star continues, adding, “and you can keep them alive a lot longer than they would have kept them alive. And they are just so cute.”

Kane, who was photographed receiving a snap from Selma Blair’s dog in June, loves dogs of all shapes, sizes and ages. While she’s still grieving Johnny’s death, it may soon be time for her to get a new canine companion – who might be older again.

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Carol Kane at the screening of ‘Between The Temples’ in New York on August 21.

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Dogs, concludes Kane, “are so resilient, and a little love and care goes a long, long way.” They did these studies on chimpanzees, that if they are deprived of physical touch when they are young, what happens to them. Dogs are like that – and so are people.”

Kane stars with Jason Schwartzman in Nathan Silver’s new film Between the templesin theaters now.

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Source: HIS Education