Maryland Woman Runs House For Aging Dogs. This Is The Best Thing I’ve Heard Of In A Long Time.

Life can be rough for senior dogs even in the best of circumstances. They are even more dependent on their mommies or daddies to take them around and they go to the vet way more often than they did when they were much younger. There are a lot of older dogs that are in shelters or on the street and those problems multiply – it’s not a fun way to live. There is one person out there, though, that’s determined to change that for older pooches.

House with a Heart, which is in Gaithersburg, Virgina, helps these senior citizen dogs live out their twilight years. Perhaps some of them came from a shelter or a home that couldn’t care for them. The place is well-kept, with toys, doggie beds, a spacious yard for them to run around in. Sher Pelvinale, who runs the place, also makes sure that there are harnesses that let the elderly dogs roam around and also there are diapers for those that are incontinent.

There are volunteers who show up in the late morning to help Pelvinale and Harriet Sackler, the Vice-President of House With A Heart, do their jobs, whether it’s feeding the dogs, scooping up their poop, giving them medicine or just picking them up and showering them with love. There are medicine bottles of all kinds – raising an older dog can be expensive. Pelvinale talked about one dog that cost $8,000 a year… and then affectionately said in the next sentence that she hoped the doggie lived another 8-10 years.

The most important thing to Pelvinale is that the dogs are loved all the way to the end… and beyond. There’s a whole wall of framed dog pictures, each with their name on it. It’s a memorial for those that have already passed. It had started off as a few pictures, but as time went by, the number of frames multiplied. Now there are pictures on the second floor. Pelvinale said, “We never forget them. They are always with us.”

Have you had an older dog in your life? I did for a while and now my male cat is getting older and creakier. Sadly, it’s part of life. I do admire what Pelvinale is doing. How about you? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.