Heartbreak as Grieving Dogs Say Goodbye to Canine Sibling One Last Time

A video of two dogs grieving the loss of the family’s older canine went viral, as viewers saw the importance of allowing pets to process their grief.

Dog owner Jennifer recently said her last goodbyes to one of her dogs, Munckin, whom she saved in 2013. When she found Munckin in the middle of the road, she was only about five weeks old, and for the last decade, she’s been by her side.

When Munckin’s time came, Jennifer needed to make a decision—should she let her other canines see her before the family buried her?

Jennifer told Newsweek that she’s gone through these difficult goodbyes with other dogs in the past. She remembered how depressed Munckin became after an older doggy sibling passed, and Jennifer didn’t let her see him. She would wait by the door for him.

Munckin again experienced a canine passing, but Jennifer allowed her to see the dog. She said it felt like a better process for Munckin as she could comprehend what had happened. That’s when she decided it might be best for Charlie and Bailey to see their sister. Plus, since she works in hospice care, she knew the importance of letting families have closure, which includes dogs.

In her March 24 TikTok video posted to the account @charlieandme11, Jennifer held Munckin in her lap, bundled up on the couch. Charlie, the chocolate Labrador pit mix, and Bailey, the Jack Russell Chihuahua, joined them. She wanted to show them Munckin and help them process the loss, although Jennifer said they became “very attuned” when she became sick.

“Charlie was very calm, and I think he knew what was going on,” she said. “…You could tell in the video they both grieved in different ways.”

Charlie cried in the clip and tried waking Munckin up by tapping his paw on her head, but Jennifer stopped him. She instead tried to comfort him with pets. Bailey also stepped in and placed her paw on him to calm him down, but her processing of the loss looked slightly different. She took one look at Munckin and understood.

“I didn’t want them to think that I took her and didn’t bring her back,” she said.

Jennifer said she wanted to film it as a memory with her dogs touching, whining and nuzzling Munckin one last time. After thinking about the video, she realized it could be important to show others going through a similar situation who are struggling to decide whether to let their pets see the one who passed.

Knowing how difficult the grieving process can be, Jennifer wanted to normalize letting your pets say goodbye, especially as dogs are pack animals.

Jennifer did not expect the video to reach over 4.8 million views on TikTok. The support stunned her. She said that about 99 percent of the comments were from people wishing they had done the same when their pets passed away.

“This is one of the sweetest, most compassionate things I’ve seen a pet owner do. It’s important for pet siblings to understand when one of the pack passes,” wrote one person.

“Animals have to grieve too. I’m so glad you gave them a chance to say goodbye,” another commenter said.

“They need this just like we do. We never think of their feelings at these times because we are grieving, this hurts, but helps them. Good job mom,” a third person wrote.