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Shawn Booth is mourning the loss of his pet and “best friend,” Tucker.
For the past 11-years, the golden retriever stood by the former Bachelorette contestant’s side as he went through many stages in life, including his rise to stardom, an engagement to Kaitlyn Bristowe and their eventual split.
But now, Shawn is continuing life without his “best friend,” as Tucker unfortunately passed away this week. On Instagram, the 32-year-old shared, “With the heaviest heart I’ve ever had, I wanted to let you guys know that I lost my best friend today. Tucker passed peacefully in my arms and in the comfort of our backyard.”
“I poured every ounce of my heart into him and he gave me his entire heart right back. I’ve never loved anything more and he was the best boy I could ever ask for. I was the luckiest person in the world to have him by my side for 11+ years,” he continued. “I already miss him so much.”
If that wasn’t heartbreaking enough, he shared this quote as a reminder of how much he adored the pup: “If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever ..”
His ex, Kaitlyn, commented, “I’m so sorry. This one hurts. You gave him a great life.” She and Shawn were engaged for over three years and lived together for a majority of the time, giving her the opportunity to know and love the sweetheart that Tucker was.
Even after the personal trainer and influencer broke up, she continued to post tributes to Tucker on her Instagram, including one on his 11th birthday. And the podcast host previously revealed that she used to think “he was almost the glue to our relationship,” and was one thing that made it so hard to end her engagement to Shawn.
Kaitlyn wasn’t the only one to have an attachment to Tucker, or as many affectionately called him, Doodle. Jared Haibon, Becca Tilley and other Bachelor Nation fans expressed their condolences on Instagram. Tilley wrote, “I’m so sorry—my heart is broken for you! We all fell in love with Tucker from your posts!”