Culture

An Ode To Marnie, The Late Tongue-Out Dog Who Stole The Internet’s Heart

Yesterday, Marnie died at the age of 18 but why was the internet so obsessed with her in the first place?

by Michelle Rennex  9 March 2020
ode to marnie tongue dog dead

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In what has to be the most terrible start to a year ever, turns out it can get worse. We lost Marnie, the adorable Shih Tzu with a long tongue. 

Yesterday, Marnie’s owner, Shirley Braha, shattered the world’s heart and announced that after 18 long years of life, Marnie had passed away “painlessly and peacefully.”

“Her comfort had been notably declining over the past few days with little hope for improvement,” Shirley shared. “And she let me know she had had enough. She enjoyed her chicken until the very end.”

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It is with much grief I share the news that Marnie passed away painlessly & peacefully in my home on Thursday afternoon at the age of 18. Her comfort had been notably declining over the past few days with little hope for improvement and she let me know she had had enough. She enjoyed her chicken until the very end. Thank you for joining me on an unexpected journey with the ultimate love of my life. All I can feel right now is loss but beneath that I have so much gratitude. I’m grateful to the universe for entrusting me with her beautiful soul and providing me with the perfect best friend and companion. Im grateful I was able to give this magical creature the fun and deeply loving life she wanted and deserved. I’m thankful I was chosen to be the conduit for Marnie to bring joy into the world. And I’m thankful for all the human and dog friends Marnie and I made along the way, and the strangers on the streets and on the internet, who have shown us so much love. Most of all, I’m amazed that the sweet little hot mess of a pup that I picked up from a shelter at age 11, who at first didn’t seem like she would be around very long at all, has managed to inspire others to adopt senior dogs. When I hear from people that Marnie has made them adopt their senior dogs it’s truly the most beautiful legacy she and I could hope to leave in this world. The night of her passing I had a dream where I watched her awake from her death like it hadn’t happened at all, and she was running around at a party completely happy and invincible. She approached a descending staircase and I wanted to interject to protect her from falling, but she sailed right down the stairs and landed on her feet and stopped and looked at me and laughed and just kept going. Maybe this was a message from her from heaven, but at minimum I can take solace knowing that for a long stretch of time, prior to her aging body taking its toll, heaven for her was right here on earth. Marnie will be buried in a pet cemetery in LA and hopefully there will be a public memorial gathering whenever safe (due to Coronavirus).

A post shared by Marnie The Dog (@marniethedog) on

In Shirley’s goodbye note to Marnie, she thanked and shared her gratitude to everyone for joining in on their unexpected journey.

“I’m grateful to the universe for entrusting me with her beautiful soul and providing me with the perfect best friend and companion,” Shirley wrote. “I’m grateful I was able to give this magical creature the fun and deeply loving life she wanted and deserved.”

“When I hear from people that Marnie has made them adopt their senior dogs, it’s truly the most beautiful legacy she and I could hope to leave in this world,” Shirley continued. “I can take solace knowing that for a long stretch of time, prior to her ageing body taking its toll, heaven for her was right here on earth.”

At the end of her message, Shirley shared that Marnie will be buried in a pet cemetery in LA and plans to hold a public memorial when coronavirus subsides.

With 1.8 million followers on Instagram, fans across the world mourned the loss of the tiny, rescue dog. Even fellow animal influencers paid their respects to the tongue dangler, including the very much alive Doug The Pug and the late Lil Bub, whose ghost apparently penned a tribute to the much loved Shih Tzu. 

“We are so sorry. Marnie was so special and brought so much love to the world. Thank you for sharing her with us,” the Doug The Pug Twitter account wrote.

“I am beyond thrilled that [Marnie] and BUB are reunited and embarking on a new adventure in some distant galaxy,” Bub’s parents wrote on Lil Bub’s still-active Instagram account.

Beyond the pet influencer community, people online who were fans of the pup and her celebrity adventures over the last seven years, took to Twitter to express their sadness.

So, Who Was Marnie And Why Did Everyone Love Her?

Marnie sat in decrepit animal shelter in Connecticut for four months before Shirley plucked her out of her the pound. Dirty and smelly, the then-11-year-old Shih Tzu was adopted and her name was changed from the pound name ‘Stinky’, to Marnie — a name the world now knows and are unlikely to forget.

Marnie’s first Instagram post was way back in 2013, with Shirley explaining that she didn’t post Marnie online until a year after she adopted her. While talking to The New Yorker, Shirley shared that she originally didn’t want to be one of those “delusional” people who were “so attached to their dogs”. But after she lost her job, and Marnie’s Instagram started to take off, Shirley realised the power that her dog and the photos had.

So taking photos of Marnie became Shirley’s thing. Not only did the average person love the photos, but brands and celebrities did too. Posing alongside big names like Betty White, Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, and countless others, Marnie became an internet phenomenon.

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Chillin w/ Demi haha lol @ddlovato

A post shared by Marnie The Dog (@marniethedog) on

Known for her small stature, head tilt, and unbelievably long tongue, Marnie became very popular very quickly. Shirley explained that she would get hundreds of emails from both fans and brands begging to meet the pup, and Marnie’s website even encouraged people who saw them in the streets of NYC to approach and say hi.

But Marnie wasn’t some conventionally pretty, cross-breed puppy. Marnie was an old dog wh0 was scruffy and disfigured. She sat unwanted at the pound for months, and was even called “Stinky” by staff. Yet, Marnie stole the internet’s heart and proved that older dogs are worth rescuing, and that they can too bring as much joy as any new designer puppy.

Much like the late Grumpy Cat, Marnie provided a much needed injection of unexpected happiness into an otherwise bleak past five years. While no other can live up to Marnie, we’re happy to report that her owner doesn’t have to be alone while mourning. Shirley recently adopted another senior dog named Gilda from a nearby shelter, who will help to fill the hole that Marnie has left.