'Meant to be': Man finds loving home for senior rescue dog 3 days before dying

Pawpaw sits in his high chair, having just chowed down his dinner. Because the muscles in the dog’s esophagus don’t work properly, the special chair allows gravity to help food reach his stomach. But like a baby, he needs to burp before he can get down.So his owners, Bernie Knobbe and Tim Belavich, do their best to keep the 16-year-old terrier mix entertained — telling stories and singing.
In the spring of 2019, Pawpaw needed a new home because his owner was dying.Courtesy of Bernie Knobbe and Tim Belavich / Courtesy Bernie Knobbe and Tim Belavich

“How much is that Pawpaw in the window?” they sing. “The one with the waggly tail…”

The couple’s devotion to Pawpaw stems from their commitment to caring for any animal they adopt — and a promise to a dying man.

In the spring of 2019, Pawpaw needed a new home. He’d spent the last three years happily living in San Francisco with a man named John Weston who used a wheelchair due to Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . Pawpaw often put his paws on the chair so Weston could pet him.But when Weston’s health began rapidly deteriorating, he needed to find Pawpaw a loving forever home before he passed away.

Teach your dog to file his or her own nails by attaching sandpaper to a piece of wood.

John Weston adopted Pawpaw from Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco.Courtesy of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue
The team at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue was ready to help. Sherri Franklin, founder and CEO of the nonprofit, had placed Pawpaw with Weston — her neighbor — three years prior and had pledged to help if health issues prevented him from continuing to care for his dog. That time had come. “I really wanted John to be taken care of and his feelings to really be taken into consideration,” Franklin told TODAY. “It was just this overwhelming sense of duty to do this for him.”