By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Ruth Creamer of Ramona has owned several dogs in the 20 years since her husband died. Her three dogs are what keep her motivated every day now that she’s 90 years old.

“They’re all that keeps me going,” she said. “If I didn’t have them waiting here at home, I don’t suppose I’d even go home.”

Creamer’s three dogs are rescues. She used to go out with her sister-in-law looking for dogs to adopt and owned five at one point.

“We never failed to go to shelters when we went someplace,” she said.

Sadie, her Boston terrier, was born in 2013 and adopted by Creamer six months later.

Creamer adopted her Pekingese, Sara, from a shelter in 2012. She was struck at the time by how an oversized cage made a small dog look even smaller.

Susie, a toy Pomeranian adopted four years ago, could be as old as 18, but Creamer doesn’t have an exact age.

The three have dealt with a variety of health issues from gradual blindness to infections, and Creamer feels quite protective of them.

She sees the dogs as family and values their time together.

“I’m going to keep them until they lie down and die,” she said. “I spend all day with them if I don’t have to go get groceries. We’re here 24/7.”

The dogs, in turn, can be defensive of their owner. Sadie will sit under Creamer’s chair when meeting someone new.

Creamer’s goal is to purchase at auction a house where she and her dogs can live.

“Just give me five years with my dogs in a house paid for,” she said. “I’ll be in seventh Heaven.”

Creamer had cats in the past but didn’t like having to clean a litter box.

“That’s why there are no more cats,” she said.