Heartbreaking photo shows dog standing at casket to say goodbye to owner

Sadie, a 13-year-old border collie-dalmatian-shepherd cross, has been a loyal companion since being adopted when she was just eight weeks old.

When one of her owners died suddenly, she took it like any grieving family member would.

Julia Beaulieu’s husband died from a sudden heart attack a few months ago.

“Once they stopped working around him, she came and she laid with him and pushed at his hand almost as if to get him to pet her,” Beaulieu said. “She was daddy’s girl — she was his and he was hers.”

As Beaulieu came to terms with her loss she also had to deal with a devastated dog.

“She was so distraught and lost. Around 2:30 or three o’clock she’d listen for his truck, she’d go stand at the window and look. She was waiting for him to come home.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "She was so distraught and lost. Around 2:30 or three o'clock she'd listen for his truck, she'd go stand at the window and look. She was waiting for him to come home."

Sadie stopped eating for 10 days and lost 10 pounds.

When it was time for her husband’s memorial service, Beaulieu decided it was time for Sadie to also say goodbye.

“She hadn’t eaten since he passed, so I thought by letting her see inside the coffin and seeing him there, maybe it was going to give her some closure as it did for me,” she said.

The moment was captured in a photo taken by the CEO of the funeral company.

“It really showed the connection between humans and their pets and how tight it is,” Jeremy May of Elements Cremation said.

Having dogs at funeral services is a growing trend, May said.

“They’re family,” Beaulieu added.

Beaulieu says every time she looks at the photo of Sadie at the casket it brings her a little comfort.

As for Sadie, Beaulieu said she resumed eating after the memorial service.