Daughter films her dad sharing quiet moments with dying dog — before saying final goodbye

Dogs have a special ability to make themselves the most beloved member of most families. So when it’s time for them to go, things get highly emotional. One such family where this was the case is the Ekin family. TikTok creator Katie Ekin (@katieekin) shared a video on her profile that showed her father, Gary, curled up beside their dog Chandler in what were his final days in the world. Safe to say that the online community didn’t see a dry eye.

As per a report in People, the family had adopted the terrier when it was just six months old. Chandler wasn’t the biggest, but he had a personality to make up for it. "My favorite memory is how Chandler showed up for my dogs constantly. When they were younger, they’d play so much, and when my dog Mowgli was sick, Chandler wouldn’t leave his side. I’d always find them curled up together. He was such a source of comfort,” Katie said. Over the years, Gary had developed a special bond with Chandler.

By the time the dog turned 17, it could be assumed that the two were inseparable when they were at home. However, Chandler’s health began to deteriorate around that time. It was suspected that he had a tumor in his brain. Given the quality of life he was having, the family took the tough decision of putting him down. Gary was heartbroken by this and made sure that in Chandler’s final days, he spent as much time with him as possible. Katie found his father curled up beside the dogs multiple times.

“We couldn’t leave him on the bed because we were scared he would fall off, so we kept him cozy on his floor bed. Typically, if he sensed us coming in to pet him, he’d get up and start wandering,” Katie said. "But when my dad would go in and lie with him, he stayed asleep and seemed so peaceful — like he was soaking up the moments the same as my dad,” she added. Her heart must have melted every time she saw her father and his best friend curled up, sharing a moment together. Viewers on TikTok also felt the same way, and they made their thoughts known in the comments section of the video.

“Lying with them, petting them with tears pouring from your eyes, knowing this will all be gone soon is the most gut-wrenching pain I've ever felt,” one user commented. “It’s like he turned into a little boy. That was his little buddy. You can tell they had a hell of a journey together,” quipped another. “The happiest hello, the saddest goodbye,” commented a third. Katie never expected the video to garner millions of views and thousands of comments. She was thankful for people’s kind words. "So many people left the kindest words or shared their own stories of pet loss and pet grief. It reached and touched so many more people than we ever could’ve imagined,” she said.

For more such content, follow @katieekin on TikTok.