Dale Jr. and Amy Earnhardt pay tearful tribute after family tragedy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy are mourning the loss of their dog, Junebug, at the age of 15.

Dale Jr. had revealed earlier in the year that the Pomeranian had suffered a stroke which saw him struggle with movement and fall over frequently, something he admitted was 'tough' on his wife.

Back in March, he said: “He’s doing that on a couple of legs where he is not sure where the ground’s at. And he falls over, he falls over like a fainting goat. And not moving very well, for about two days, he was mute. I just got a text from Amy that he is barking.

"So yesterday, I got him just to growl, just a little bit, because I play with him about his food… That’s the only way we can get him to take anything down."

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Amy Earnhardt shares Junebug tribute on Instagram

Alongside a series of pictures of Junebug in better days, Amy posted online: "Yesterday my tiny Junebug made his way over the rainbow bridge. My heart is broken. I know dogs don’t live forever, but we definitely don’t get them long enough. I’m going to miss you my sweet boy. Fly high and I’ll see you again."

She also appeared on Dale Jr.'s podcast this week, saying: "I'm gonna miss him, he was a sweet little boy. I was - I'm gonna cry - I was holding him when he passed away, which is...I'm grateful for, because if I had to make the choice to put him down that would've been harder.

"He was sleeping next to me down in the Elvis room, my alarm went off and I could hear he wasn't breathing that well so I look over and I'm just petting him. As soon as I picked him up and started taking him towards the front door, he just passed away. I feel like he waited for me to wake up.

"I miss him. Isla was sad yesterday again, so I think she's going to go in and out of it with me, but Nicole's going to continue to torture us with all of her commentary about 'he's in the dirt, he's in the yard', and maybe it's some comic relief."

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A post shared by A M Y E A R N H A R D T (@mrsamyearnhardt)

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