Before Jackie Pajan adopted a senior golden retriever named Noah, she said she faced a lot of skepticism from others.
“There’s often a misconception that they are going to pass away quickly, or that they’re going to be boring or not fun,” Pajan said, speaking with “Good Morning America.”
But in her experience, she said senior dogs will surprise you.
Pajan, 41, is a pet loss companion, which means she walks people through the grieving process after their pet has died, and in her spare time, she rescues and fosters senior animals.
She is known as Rainbow Bridge Raina on social media, where she openly talks about pet loss.
Pajan said that when she adopted Noah, she had recently lost her golden retriever Ryley, whom she called her soul dog.
A family portrait of Jackie Pajan, Noah, and Ruby.
Lovely Day Photography/Lindsay Fitzpatrick
She said she found Noah after a couple months of searching for another senior golden retriever.
“He was such a gentle boy and just so happy to be out in the world,” she said. “He was a very good, gentle soul, probably the most gentle dog I’ve ever met.”
Pajan said Noah had no experience really living in a house, because he had lived in another structure with other animals previously. He also had no idea how to use the stairs, she said.
“He had no idea how to just be a dog — not have to work and not have to do anything,” she said.
Noah was excited to have a lot of toys, tennis balls in particular, Pajan said. She said Noah wasn’t a typical golden retriever who wanted to go for adventures and walks.
“In his senior state, he truly wanted to retire, just as a person does, and kind of enjoy the finer things in life,” Pajan said.
Jackie Pajan and her soul dog, Ryley, pose for photo.
Caitlyn Wirkowski
Noah died a year and a half after Pajan adopted him. In a July TikTok post, she wrote that Noah helped her family through “the hardest year and a half of our lives,” adding in the caption, “I pray he knows how loved he was and always will be.”
As a pet loss companion, Pajan said she views the loss of a pet as equally devastating as the loss of a human, and her goal is to normalize pet loss and the grief that comes with it.
She said the impact Noah had on her allowed her to heal and open her heart to all kinds of new dogs and experiences.
“He really showed me to accept every dog exactly as they come instead of having an expectation of what I’d like them to be,” she said. “Noah showed me that dogs can be the exact same breed as the one you’ve known before, and they can be completely different — and they can be just as wonderful and fulfilling in a whole new way.”
