For fourteen years, Derek Hough knew what it felt like to come home to someone who was always happy to see him.
It didn’t matter whether he’d had a wonderful day or one he’d rather forget.
Whether the applause had been deafening or the world had felt unbearably quiet.
Somewhere at home, there was a dog named Romie.
And Romie was waiting.
But on October 25, 2026, the Dancing with the Stars judge shared the heartbreaking news that his beloved rescue dog had died.
Derek was forty-one. He had become a husband, welcomed his first child, and experienced extraordinary changes in his career and personal life.
Romie had been there through nearly all of it.
What made the goodbye especially painful wasn’t simply that fourteen years had passed.
It was that Romie had remained with Derek long enough to meet someone very special.
His baby daughter, Everley.
And according to Derek, that was the one last thing he’d asked his old friend to do.
It Was Supposed to Be Just One Night
Their story began in Los Angeles in 2012.
Derek was volunteering at an animal rescue, helping walk dogs who needed exercise, attention, and a little companionship.
One of those dogs was Romie.
At the time, Derek wasn’t planning to begin a fourteen-year friendship.
The rescue offered him the opportunity to take Romie home overnight.
Just one night.
A chance for the dog to spend some time away from the rescue environment.
But Romie apparently had other plans.
Once inside Derek’s home, he climbed onto the couch and settled comfortably into his lap.
That was all it took.
Years later, Derek remembered the moment in a 2023 interview with The Spruce Pets. The dog had made himself so thoroughly at home that Derek knew he wanted to keep him.
The overnight guest never left.
And a decision that took only a few moments became one of the longest, most meaningful relationships in Derek’s life.
Romie was a big dog, eventually weighing around sixty-five pounds.
But according to Hayley Erbert Hough, he never seemed particularly aware of his size.
He believed he belonged in people’s laps.
Perhaps that was fitting.
After all, climbing into Derek’s lap was how he’d found his forever home in the first place.
Before There Was a Family, There Were Two
In his farewell tribute, Derek looked back on the person he’d been when Romie entered his life.
He was still finding his way.
He was building his career, learning about himself, and navigating the uncertainty that comes with becoming an adult.
Through all those changes, Romie was his constant companion.
A dog doesn’t understand television ratings.
He doesn’t care how many trophies you’ve won.
He doesn’t know whether the person opening the front door has been praised by thousands or criticized by strangers.
He knows the footsteps.
The voice.
The familiar person who fills his bowl, scratches behind his ears, and comes home at the end of the day.
For Derek, that kind of companionship meant more than he could easily explain.
In his October 25 tribute, he reflected on how Romie had supported him through his happiest and most difficult moments.
When Derek struggled to find purpose, caring for his dog helped give his days meaning.
And as the years passed, Romie remained beside him.
The little rescue dog who had made himself comfortable on a couch in 2012 became part of Derek’s everyday life.
Not for a season.
Not for a few years.
For nearly a decade and a half.
Then Hayley Came Along
As Derek’s life changed, Romie’s family grew.
Hayley Erbert became part of their world.
And before long, Romie wasn’t simply Derek’s dog.
He was someone Hayley loved deeply, too.
When she said goodbye to him, Hayley reflected on eleven years of companionship.
She remembered him as her adventure buddy, her snuggler, and the gentle leader of their household’s little animal family.
For someone who hadn’t been there on the day Derek first brought Romie home, she had nevertheless shared most of the dog’s life.
She knew his habits.
His affectionate nature.
The way he seemed to believe his large body was perfectly suited for curling up in a person’s lap.
Romie was also there as Derek and Hayley’s relationship developed into marriage.
The couple married in 2023.
By then, Romie was already an older dog.
His face was beginning to show the years.
His pace was changing.
But he was still part of the family they were building.
Their household also welcomed another rescue dog, Luna, who became Romie’s younger companion.
Derek and Hayley had previously shared how Luna’s youthful energy helped bring out a playful side of the aging Romie.
Their family was growing.
And the dog who had once been Derek’s only companion was surrounded by more people and animals to love.
Then came the biggest change of all.
The Little Sister Romie Hadn’t Met Yet
In December 2025, Derek and Hayley welcomed their daughter, Everley Capri.
For the couple, it was the beginning of parenthood.
For Romie, already well into his senior years, it was one more chapter in a life filled with people who loved him.
But Derek had been watching his old companion grow tired.
He knew their time together would not last forever.
And as the family prepared for Everley’s arrival, he had a deeply personal wish.
He wanted Romie to meet his daughter.
In his farewell message, Derek revealed that he’d asked the dog to hold on long enough for that moment.
Of course, nobody can know what a dog understands about a promise like that.
But the hope behind Derek’s request was unmistakable.
He wanted the companion who had watched him grow into adulthood to witness the beginning of his daughter’s life.
And Romie did.
He lived long enough to meet Everley.
There is something extraordinarily moving about that.
Fourteen years earlier, Romie had arrived before Derek knew what his future family would look like.
Now that family included a wife, a baby daughter, and the old rescue dog who had been there from the beginning.
Hayley later shared a video showing Everley crawling alongside Romie.
It wasn’t a grand occasion.
There were no trophies.
No spotlight.
Just a baby discovering the world and an elderly dog spending time with his family.
But for Derek, that was the moment he’d hoped his old friend would live to see.
And Romie had made it.
The Nights Derek Slept on the Floor
By October 2026, Romie’s health was declining.
On October 14, Derek shared an intimate update with his followers.
He posted a photograph of himself lying on the floor, nose-to-nose with the dog he’d loved for so many years.
Romie wasn’t doing well.
And Derek explained that he’d been sleeping beside him for several nights.
It was a simple image.
A man.
His old dog.
Two faces close together on the floor.
But anyone who has loved a senior dog understands why it matters.
As dogs grow older, their needs change.
The animal who once bounded through the house may begin moving more slowly.
Stairs become difficult.
Rest becomes more important.
And the person who loves that animal begins noticing things they once took for granted.
The effort it takes to stand.
The change in a familiar walk.
The quiet moments when an old dog seems more tired than he did yesterday.
Derek had spent years sharing his life with Romie.
Now he was choosing to remain close during one of its hardest chapters.
The man who had once welcomed a rescue dog onto his couch was lying on the floor to be beside that same companion.
Fourteen years had passed.
But the important part hadn’t changed.
They still wanted to be near each other.
October 25: The Goodbye
Eleven days after that health update, Derek announced Romie’s death.
His tribute included a video of the dog walking outside in the sunshine.
For so long, Romie had been a familiar presence in the family’s home.
Now Derek was confronting the quiet absence left behind.
He described waking up and instinctively looking toward the place where Romie would usually appear from behind the bushes.
He still expected to see him.
That detail may be the most heartbreaking part of the entire goodbye.
Because grief after losing a dog often lives in ordinary habits.
It’s the glance toward an empty dog bed.
The pause before opening the back door.
The moment you reach toward the place where a familiar head used to rest.
The expectation that your dog will be there, because for so many years, he always was.
And then comes the realization that the routine has changed.
There is no familiar face coming around the corner.
No old dog making his way toward you.
No quiet greeting.
Derek had known Romie was growing older.
He’d known the goodbye was approaching.
But knowing doesn’t make the first morning without a beloved companion easy.
In his tribute, he described the pain of Romie’s absence as almost unbearable.
Yet he also recognized something important.
The depth of that grief reflected the depth of the love they’d shared.
Hayley Lost Her Best Friend, Too
Hayley shared her own farewell.
For eleven years, Romie had been part of her life.
She remembered his gentleness, his affection, and his place in their growing family.
She called him the sweetest big brother to Luna and Everley.
That description carried an entire history.
Romie had been there before the wedding.
Before the baby.
Before their household became what it was in 2026.
He had shared the ordinary days between those milestones.
The mornings.
The evenings.
The quiet time at home.
Hayley thanked Derek for bringing Romie into her life.
And she expressed what so many people feel when an animal has been part of their family for years.
No amount of time seems long enough when it’s finally time to say goodbye.
Fourteen years sounds like a lifetime.
To the people who shared those years with Romie, it was still too short.
What Romie Left Behind
There is a particular beauty in remembering how this story began.
Romie didn’t enter Derek’s life with any guarantee that he would become part of a family.
He was a rescue dog who needed a home.
Derek was a young man still figuring out his future.
They spent one night together.
The dog climbed into his lap.
And Derek decided he should stay.
Neither could have known what the next fourteen years would bring.
The career milestones.
The difficult periods.
The love Derek would find with Hayley.
The wedding.
The arrival of little Everley.
Romie was there for all of it.
And as his life drew toward its end, Derek gave back the same companionship that Romie had offered him for years.
He stayed close.
He slept beside him.
He made sure his old friend wasn’t alone.
Then came the goodbye no loving dog owner ever feels ready for.
In his final tribute, Derek thanked Romie for choosing their family and for everything he’d given them.
It was a farewell filled with heartbreak.
But also gratitude.
Because the story of Romie was never simply about a famous dancer losing a dog.
It was about how one rescue animal became part of a person’s identity, routines, memories, and family.
The dog who arrived for an overnight stay remained long enough to see Derek become a father.
He met the little girl Derek had so desperately hoped he would meet.
And now, even though Romie is gone, Everley will grow up with photographs and videos of the gentle dog who was there during her earliest days.
One day, Derek and Hayley may tell her about the big, affectionate boy who believed he belonged in everyone’s lap.
About the rescue dog who welcomed them home.
About the companion who shared fourteen years of their family’s story.
And about how he was there when she arrived.
For Derek, the hardest part may still be those ordinary mornings.
Looking toward the bushes.
Expecting that familiar face.
Then remembering.
But somewhere within that sadness is the beginning of the story, too.
A young man opened his home to a rescue dog for one night.
The dog climbed onto his lap.
And fourteen years of love followed.
Romie needed a home.
Derek gave him one.
And when the time came to say goodbye, Derek discovered just how completely that dog had become part of his heart.
Rest peacefully, sweet Romie.
You were loved for a lifetime.
And you will be remembered for much longer.
Editor’s Note: This story is based on Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert Hough’s public tributes to Romie, along with previously published interviews about his adoption. It is a nonfiction retelling, with emotional reflections added for storytelling. No private conversations or medical details have been invented.
