Eddie isn’t a morning person like many of us.
The 8-year-old – a Yorkie mix – just doesn’t like waking up.
“When I first got him, he didn’t seem to hate tomorrow, but the longer he lived here, a few months later, he got grumpy,” Lisa Mattuchio said of her dog. “I laughed because he now knows that he is in his eternal home.”
Mattuchio adopted Eddie three years ago. He cannot use his back legs and instead uses a scooter to get around.
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TikTok star @eddieonwheels seen at home in Saugus, Massachusetts
But it’s this strong aversion to waking up that has made him an international star.
The fight documented daily on TikTok to wake him up every morning has exploded online. Waking up or lacking @eddieonwheels has attracted more than 620,000 followers and 12.3 million likes.
“I hear from people all over the country, all over the world. Egypt, Greece, Australia. ‘We start our day with Eddie videos because he makes us smile and we love him!'” Said Mattuchio.
A local high school student is about to go to Harvard University, and her essay on a difficult time in her life has attracted a lot of attention.
Mattuchio, who used to work as a nurse at a veterinary clinic, says her job is to provide homes for seniors and dogs with special needs. In addition to Eddie, she has three other dogs that have looked for their forever home and found them with her in Saugus, Massachusetts.
“It’s important to me that I try to share and send a message that you should adopt an older dog or a dog with special needs, it’s spot on,” said Mattuchio. “We go to dog parks, we walk every day, we hike. They are seniors and people with special needs, but you can do as much with them as a two-year lab.”
Mattuchio says she also used the TikTok platform to raise funds and create awareness.
“I used Eddie’s platform to raise money for other dogs and it has been very successful, so I’m very proud to help other dogs build bikes and do physical therapy,” said Mattuchio.
She added that the daily posts come on their own.
“Eddie gives me content every day, I don’t have to worry. He’s a character,” she said.
With all that exposure, Eddie becomes something of a celebrity.
“Eddie gets recognized now and then and that’s really fun,” she said. “I had someone hold out my hand and say, ‘Oh, my granddaughter was Eddie for Halloween.’ I don’t even know what she did, she probably was crawling around and grumpy, “Mattuchio said.
She wants to change the way the world sees seniors and dogs with special needs.
“It’s fun to know that a 60-second post makes people around the world so happy,” she said. “I’ve contacted people to say that I’m adopting an older dog this weekend.”
Meet some of the dogs up for adoption at the MSPCA and learn what you should know about adoption.
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