Dogs are such caring, emotionally intelligent animals. They have a remarkable ability to understand when someone has died, and can even grieve for their late loved ones.
Just like people, dogs can get emotional at the memories of their departed friends. Like one dog, who recently had the sweetest reaction to a photo of her best friend.
Alli Trent had two dogs: her childhood pet Lacy, who she got in 2007, and a beagle named Lola, who she got in 2017.
The older dog initially didn’t take well to the new pup’s arrival, but Lola looked up to Lacy like a big sister, and soon they warmed up to each other.
“[Lacy] would growl at her, but Lola was always so, so patient with her,” Alli told The Dodo. “Lola was so obsessed with Lacy from the beginning.”
And she says Lola looked after Lacy as the elder dog’s health began to decline. Her health “took a turn for the worst” on Christmas Eve, and she passed away this month at the age of 14.
“We are absolutely heartbroken, and I know my Lola is going to miss her too,” the family wrote on Instagram. “It was Lacy’s world and we were just living in it…and now it’s just going to be so hard to imagine a world without this little girl.”
Shortly after Lacy’s passing, a heartbreaking but beautiful photo showed just how much Lola missed her best friend.
Alli bought a memorial gift of Lacy: a photo of the late dog that she placed on a shelf in her home.
To the owner’s surprise, Lola seemed immediately drawn to the photo, as if she recognized her old friend. “Lola was immediately interested in it,” Alli wrote on Instagram. “I thought, there is absolutely no way she knows that’s Lacy. I change our decor all the time and Lola is never interested in any of it.”
But Lola just kept going to the photo, as if paying memorial to the late dog. “She just kept going to the picture trying to get to it wagging her tail.”
The dog’s grieving process was confirmed later, when Alli asked Lola if she missed Lacy and asked “where is Lacy?”
The dog immediately ran over to Lacy’s photo.
“Without hesitating, she sprinted over to the couch, jumped up on the arm like in this picture, and put her nose straight to the picture wagging her tail like it was really her,” Alli wrote.
It’s hard to believe that dogs can grieve for their loved ones like humans do, but it happens often. There have been many stories of dogs frequently visiting their owner’s graves. In another viral story, a dog seemed to recognize his deceased brother from a painting.
It’s a reminder of just how smart caring dogs are, and how true their love really is that they can miss someone even after they’re gone. And for Alli, it’s great to know that someone misses Lacy as much as she does.
“My Lola somehow knows this is Lacy, and although my heart is broken to not have Lacy anymore, it makes my heart happy to know that Lola can still see her in this picture,” she wrote.
Rest in peace, Lacy. It’s clear that you’ll always be remembered by your loved ones — including sweet dog Lola, who we’re sure will always take great comfort in your photo.
Share this beautiful story as a reminder of how sweet and loving dogs can be.
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