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Val Chmerkovskiy Opens Up About His Dog Anastasia’s Death: ‘She Brought So Much Happiness’

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Valentin Chmerkovskiy arrives for Victoria Arlen hosts "Locked In" book launch and screening at Cinematic Pictures Group Gallery on August 23, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images

Val Chmerkovskiy and fiancée Jenna Johnson are mourning the loss of their sweet puppy, Anastasia, who died on August 15.

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Chmerkovskiy, 32, opened up about the difficult loss while speaking to Us Weekly on Thursday, August 23. “I’ve been kind of going back and forth between seeing the bigger picture of life, you know, ‘life goes on,’ and at the same time, I kind of confront that thought and say, ‘Look, it’s all relative.’ You know? You love the things that you love and it’s relative to you,” he told Us at Victoria Arlen’s Locked in book launch and screening in Los Angeles. “So, relative to me, she brought so much happiness to me and really changed my perspective on a lot of things. I didn’t grow up with dogs, I never experienced that love that you can have for an animal, so this was new. And again, the permanence of death is also really frightening and scary and how it came out of nowhere, so it’s definitely [been] a week-and-a-half for me.”

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The Ukraine native added that “time heals all and keeps it moving and that’s what’s most humbling about this whole thing. It’s very devastating and there’s nothing I can do now.”

Johnson, 24, revealed via Instagram on August 16 that Anastasia, who appears to be a small brown poodle mix, “unexpectedly passed away” one day earlier and the Dancing With the Stars pros were “in complete and utter shock.”

Our sweet angel Anastasia unexpectedly passed away last night. We are in complete and utter shock. I have truly never felt this type of sadness before. . To my sweet baby girl… thank you for officially making us a family. You made it the 3 of us. You had a very adventurous life! You went on two different tours, you traveled the country, you went on set, you refused to sleep anywhere but my face, you had a big crush on Daddy, your sassy energy was contagious, and you brought immense joy into our lives. We treated you like our baby cause you definitely were. I wish you could have been a flower girl at our wedding, but I know you’ll be there in spirit. Go bark at everyone and everything and run around in heaven my love. We love and miss you so much. 💔

A post shared by Jenna Johnson (@dance10jenna) on

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The So You Think You Can Dance alum then penned a heartfelt letter to the late pup. “To my sweet baby girl… thank you for officially making us family. You made it there 3 of us. You had a very adventurous life! You went on two different tours, you traveled the country, you went on set, you refused to sleep anywhere but my face, you had a big crush on Daddy, your sassy energy was contagious and you brought immense joy into our lives,” she captioned a series of photos of the canine. “We treated you like our baby cause you definitely were. I wish you could have been a flower girl at our wedding, but I know you’ll be there in spirit. Go bark at everyone and everything and run round in heaven my love. We love and miss you so much.”

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