Pups are adorable, but there’s something about an old dog that really touches the heart. Dogster is seeking photos of readers’ old dogs, with little descriptions to go along with them (details later in this post). Your dog can be in Dog Heaven, as long as you submit a photo of him/her in older years.

We will put together a post with a slide show of the senior citizen canines to run on Sunday, April 25 — National Pet Parent’s Day. Everyone who submits a photo and some information on their old dog will be entered into a contest to wina 16″ x 20″ head-shot painting (value $330) by wonderful artist and Dogster friend, Kathryn Beals. (The portrait can be of any dog, not just your elderly one.) You can see some of her portraits of Dogster dogs here. She’ll film video of the winner’s portrait and post the progress on her blog as she goes. (I’ll post a time-condensed video later this week of Kathryn “speed-painting” a pug. It’s really fun to watch.)

The details: You can submit a photo and description for more than one old doggy, but we will enter your name into the drawing only once. Email to olddogsrule@dogster.com. Contest deadline is 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, April 16. A winner will be drawn at random and announced with the slide show April 25. (Update: Because of technical difficulties, the slide show will now be presented Sunday, May 2, just in time for the start of National Pet Week. Sorry for the delay, but it will be worth the wait!) Please submit photos where we can really see your dog well. Descriptions should include your dog’s name, age (or age at death, or birth and death years), and anything else you would like to tell us about your dog and your love of him/her. Just a few sentences will do. Please also include your name if you would like us to use it.

Here’s to old dogs, and the people who love them!

(Photo: Nexus.typepad.com)