Courtney Budzyn has broken her silence on the death of Tucker, the golden retriever who became one of social media’s most famous dogs.
The influencer, who built a following of millions through videos of her eight-year-old pup, posted a tearful announcement Wednesday revealing that Tucker had died the previous day. She spoke while clutching what appeared to be a box containing his ashes, addressing the fans who had been sending hopeful messages during his recent illness.
“I thought that was the last sad video I was gonna make, but it’s not,” she said, acknowledging the devastating turn of events. The news came less than a week after she had first shared his lymphoma diagnosis with followers.
Tucker had been responding “really well” to cancer treatment, Budzyn explained, but she had recently learned the disease had spread to his intestine. The treatment itself had created a devastating complication.
“The treatment left a hole where cancer was, and he got an infection that seemed to hit him overnight,” she said. She emphasized the efforts she had made to save him: “I want you to know I tried to do everything I could. I did everything.”
His condition deteriorated rapidly. “His temperature kept rising, and there was nothing – nothing was changing it. We had to let him go,” she continued, sobbing.
The bond between owner and dog ran deeper than what appeared in viral clips. “There’s nothing in this world that I wouldn’t have done for him. He was literally part of me. He was part of my soul. It feels like I lost a body part,” Budzyn shared.
She also revealed Tucker’s profound personal impact on her own life. “He literally saved my life,” she said, adding: “And I don’t expect you to understand. Because I never showed how bad things got on my end. But he saw every part of it, and he attached himself to me.”
Tucker had been with Budzyn since he was eight weeks old, joining her family in June 2018. She began filming him then, and the family watched with amazement as his Instagram account attracted millions of followers, turning the golden retriever into one of the internet’s most recognizable animal personalities.
Budzyn apologized to the community that had formed around him. “I’m so sorry, guys. I know he was yours, too,” she said. She explained why she had waited to announce the news despite her grief: “I knew that I couldn’t come on here and not be broken, but I couldn’t wait to tell you any longer because I keep getting messages, saying, ‘Please, Tucker, get well soon’.”
She ended with a vow to honor what their relationship had meant. “I don’t know how to live, but I have to. He didn’t lie by my side for all those years just for me to give up,” she said.
The story of Budzyn and Tucker will also reach readers in a new format. The upcoming picture book “Of All the Sniffs I Love the Most” is scheduled for release in November.