What Happened to Boo the Dog?

Boo, the Pomeranian the internet crowned the World’s Cutest Dog, passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 18, 2019. He was 12 years old.

His owner shared the news on his Facebook page, where more than 16 million people had followed his life. She wrote that Boo had shown signs of heart trouble ever since his older brother Buddy died the year before, and that she believed his heart truly broke when Buddy left. A year later, almost to the day, Boo followed him.

This site has been a fan home for Boo since 2010, back when he was still a bouncy little dog in a tiny t-shirt taking over everyone’s feeds. This page is our memorial to him: what happened, the life he lived, and why millions of people still search for him years later.

How did Boo die?

Boo died of heart issues. After Buddy passed away in 2018, Boo’s veterinary checkups began showing signs of heart trouble, and his owner said the timing was no coincidence. Dogs grieve, and Boo and Buddy had been inseparable for Boo’s entire life. He declined gently over that final year and passed in his sleep at home, with no pain and no long illness.

There was no accident and no mystery, despite what some clickbait articles implied at the time. He was a 12-year-old dog with a worn-out heart who went to sleep and did not wake up. As far as endings go, it was the kind you would wish for a dog you loved.

Boo’s life, in brief

• March 16, 2006: Boo is born in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• 2009: His owner, a Facebook employee, starts a fan page for him.
• October 2010: The singer Kesha tweets a link to Boo’s page, and everything changes. Within weeks he is a global sensation.
• 2011: His first book, “Boo: The Life of the World’s Cutest Dog,” is published and eventually translated into 10 languages. Gund begins making official Boo plush toys.
• 2012: Virgin America names Boo its Official Pet Liaison. His second book, “Boo: Little Dog in the Big City,” follows.
• 2015: Blue, a Golden Retriever the family called Sir Blueberry Pie, joins Boo and Buddy on Valentine’s Day.
• 2018: Buddy passes away at age 15. Boo’s health begins to decline.
• January 18, 2019: Boo passes away in his sleep at age 12.

You can read his full story, including how a haircut accidentally created the most famous dog face on the internet, on Boo’s bio page.

The day the internet found out

The announcement came on his own Facebook page, the place where the whole story had started a decade earlier. His owner wrote that Boo had passed in his sleep, that his family was heartbroken, and that she believed his heart had literally been broken since the day Buddy left. Then the news did something reserved for actual celebrities: CNN, the BBC, Time, and morning shows around the world ran obituaries for a twelve-pound Pomeranian, most of them using the exact phrase his fans were typing through tears: the world’s cutest dog.

The comment sections that day were something rare for the internet: hundreds of thousands of people being uncomplicatedly kind at the same time. People posted the Boo photos that had gotten them through hospital stays, breakups, and bad years. That is the part worth remembering about the fame. The haircut got the clicks; what people actually mourned was a decade of small daily joy.

More than a cute face

It is easy to forget now, but Boo used his fame well. For his birthdays, his owner turned the celebrations into fundraisers. Fans raised over $30,000 for Charity: Water against a $10,000 goal, more than $20,000 for San Francisco Animal Care and Control, and thousands more for Operation Smile and the pet therapy program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

He also opened a door. Boo was the first dog to become a genuine internet celebrity, years before pet influencers were a category. Every famous dog account you follow today walks a trail he sniffed out first.

Where fans remember him

His Facebook page remains online as a memorial, and his official Gund plush toys are still made, which says something about how many people never stopped loving him. If you want a Boo of your own to remember him by, we keep a guide to the official plush toys, books, and collectibles, including the retired designs that have become collector’s items.

And if you just want to smile, our photo gallery has him in every era: puppy fluff, the famous haircut, the costumes, and the gray-muzzled elder statesman years.

Rest easy, Boo. The internet is still a little softer because of you.

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