Older dogs are sometimes ignored at shelters, seen as much less fascinating by potential adopters, and are usually the first to be euthanized in the event that they aren’t adopted comparatively shortly.
“In a way,” Greig figured, adopting a senior animal “would give Wolfgang’s death purpose; he died, but another dog got to live because of that.”
Greig took home the oldest canine on the shelter, a chihuahua named Eeyore who had knee issues and a coronary heart murmur.
“It was immediately healing,” mentioned Greig, who, other than his pets, lives alone. “I could tell it was exactly what I needed to do.”
They had six years collectively, and Eeyore lived to be 19. Within three months of taking Eeyore home, Greig adopted one other senior canine — after which one other and one other. “It just kind of went from there,” he mentioned.
For greater than a decade, Greig’s home in Denver has been constantly inhabited by senior canines. He usually has about 9 dwelling with him, however at current he has 11.
“When one passes, I normally adopt another one in their honor,” mentioned Greig, who has taken in dozens of disabled and elderly dogs over the years, hoping to present them the happiest end-of-life expertise potential.
Greig sleeps with no less than seven dogs in his queen-size mattress. Sometimes much more pups squeeze in.
“Being in bed with all those warm dogs, it’s just the best thing in the world,” mentioned Greig, a lately retired accountant.
Greig’s home in downtown Denver has a big yard, he mentioned, and is in an space that’s zoned for pet exceptions, which permits him to have more than three dogs — usually the utmost allowed in a home within the metropolis. He additionally has rescued a 13-year-old pig named Bikini, 4 chickens, two rabbits, one duck and a turkey.
“I’ve just stumbled upon them,” he mentioned. He met Bikini’s former proprietor, for instance, at a chicken swap, and realized the proprietor was making an attempt to eliminate the pig. Greig saved her from probably ending up at a pig farm.
Greig’s pets get alongside properly, he mentioned. “There’s kind of a pack mentality.”
Plus, he mentioned, “They’re older, so they’re more chill.”
Greig tries to stay to 9 dogs at a time as a result of he finds it essentially the most manageable quantity, though he’ll make exceptions if a senior canine is in determined want of a home. The dogs usually dwell with him for about three years till they die, however the time is dependent upon an individual canine’s situation and age. Sometimes, he’ll soak up hospice dogs, understanding they received’t be with him for very lengthy.
“You know your time is limited, and so you take advantage of that,” Greig mentioned.
He says his coronary heart breaks a bit of bit — typically quite a bit — each time one among his animals dies.
“I remember that it’s about the dog, and not about my pain,” mentioned Greig. “They had the best end-of-life possible, and that really does make you feel better.”
Greig’s present pack consists of, so as of who sleeps closest to him: Onion, Maytag, Mr. Magoo, Fernando, Willamena, Cat, Juanita, Chalmer, Raylene, Festus and Loretta. Raylene, 8, is the youngest, and Loretta, 19, is the oldest. The “senior” designation is dependent upon the breed; smaller dogs are thought of seniors when they’re 10 to 12, and enormous breeds are thought of seniors when they’re 6 to 7.
Many of the pooches have coronary heart illness, incontinence, blindness and different well being points. Some are low-maintenance and candy, whereas others are a bit of sassier and needier.
“It’s been so great to have all these different personalities come into my life,” he mentioned.
Greig renames many of the pooches that he takes in.
“I once read that dogs don’t associate their names with themselves, they associate their names with you,” mentioned Greig. “So, it’s not confusing for them if you rename them.”
He has a routine to maintain monitor of their respective schedules involving medicines and feeding occasions.
“When everything is going well and we are in a routine, it works seamlessly,” he mentioned.
One canine, as an example, is diabetic and should eat and have insulin each 12 hours.
In all, although, caring for a slew of senior dogs is much less work than one may suppose, Greig mentioned. They do a whole lot of group actions — equivalent to film nights and automobile rides — to maintain the dogs entertained.
“Then I try to do individual things with them so they each have their one-on-one time,” mentioned Greig, who chronicles his every day life taking care of senior dogs on a well-liked Instagram page, which has greater than 1 million followers.
“I think the appeal is people like rooting for an underdog,” he mentioned.
Greig hopes he can encourage others to contemplate opening their houses and hearts to a senior pet whose life in any other case would probably be reduce brief.
“Once you adopt a senior, you fall in love with them,” he mentioned, including that many individuals over the years have let him know that they had been impressed by him to undertake older dogs or medically compromised pups.
In 2019, Greig partnered with the writer Mary Rand Hess to publish a kids’s e book “The One and Only Wolfgang,” which tells Greig’s story of taking in essentially the most “unadoptable” animals.
“I wanted to give the message to kids that old is as good as new if you have somebody that loves you,” Greig mentioned.
Since Greig’s Instagram account has develop into recognized within the animal rescue neighborhood, rescue organizations contact him with images of dogs in want of houses.
“He’s amazing,” mentioned Lisa Letson, the founding father of True & Faithful Pet Rescue Mission in Venice, Fla., which saves senior and undesirable dogs from kill shelters. Every yr, the organization rescues between 600 and 700 animals.
“They just have so much love to give, and I would always encourage people to adopt a senior,” mentioned Letson. “They make your life better.”
Just a few months in the past, Letson rescued a miniature pinscher who was a stray in Miami and infrequently took refuge at an area laundromat. The canine is estimated to be between 10 and 15 years old.
“Nobody wanted her,” she mentioned. “I called Steve and said, ‘Can you squeeze in another one?’”
“I couldn’t say no,” mentioned Greig, who determined to call his new canine “Maytag” — after the equipment firm that makes laundry machines and has a becoming slogan: “What’s inside matters.”
“Seeing them happy, even for a short period of time, it just makes me happy,” he mentioned.
