Julianne Hough Shares Heartfelt Tribute to Her Dogs Killed by Coyotes

Julianne Hough lost her dogs five years ago, but is still remembering them with love by paying tribute to them on the anniversary of their deaths.

Posting to Instagram on Saturday, September 28, the Dancing With the Stars host shared a carousel of photos of herself enjoying various moments with her beloved Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Lexi and Harley, as well as emotional pictures of the funeral she had for them.

The initial photos show Hough lying on the floor with Lexi and Harley’s bodies wrapped in blankets, surrounded by flowers, petals and candles. One photo displays the dogs’ collars. A final shot in the series features a family gathering including her brother Derek Hough, parents Marianne and Bruce Hough and ex-husband Brooks Laich.

“September 28th, 2019 🕊️I love you Lexi and Harley ❤️,” she captioned the post. “Hard to believe it’s been 5 years without you in this 3D world.”

Hough had announced the deaths of Lexi and Harley, whom she had owned for 11 and 8 years respectively, in October 2019 with a heartrending Instagram post in which she thanked Lexi and Harley “for being my babies, my daughters,” and mourned, “Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for teaching me how to be your mother. Thank you for allowing me to give and receive love.”

However, she just recently revealed how the dogs passed. Speaking to The Jamie Kern Lima Show in August, she explained that her pets had been victims of a coyote attack.

“I woke up before my phone even rang and I knew, and I picked up the phone and my assistant at the time was just, like, screaming,” she related, of being given the news.

The deaths of her beloved animals came at a particularly sensitive time, as well, as Hough was struggling with her marriage to then-husband Laich. “I had asked for a separation,” she recalled. “And then 10 days later my dogs were killed by coyotes.”

She gave further details to the podcast this month, saying that she’d been at a bachelorette party in Lake Tahoe when she got the news of her pets’ deaths: “I don’t even know how I got from Tahoe to L.A.,” she related through tears. “I blacked out completely.”

“When I had got [back], they had cleaned [the dogs] up, and they made an altar,” she detailed. “I was able to be with them and their bodies at least for like a day and a half before I went and cremated them.”

On a happy note, Hough revealed that she is once again a dog owner. Posting video of a new pup, Sunny, to Instagram in July, she enthused, “Sunny, you have brought so much love and literal sunshine in to my life. I can’t remember a time without you. Lexi & Harley would have loved and played with you everyday and I know that they sent you to me, only when I was ready to open my heart and love again – you cracked me open sweetheart.”