Kelsea Ballerini Mourns The Loss Of Her Soul Dog, Dibs: “Greatest Gift Of My Life”

Rest in peace, good boy.

Kelsea Ballerini took to Instagram on January 8 to share the heartbreaking news that her soul dog, Dibs, passed away. Over the last two years, Ballerini has worn her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her dog, as he was diagnosed with inoperable heart cancer.

Dibs is a fluffy cream goldendoodle, and he’s like her child. She is constantly posting pictures of Dibs, and he goes everywhere with Ballerini. In August of 2024, Ballerini asked fans for their thoughts and prayers as she shared that he was diagnosed with heart cancer.

“The last few days we have discovered that Dibby has inoperable cancer in his heart. He’s not in pain, and luckily, it hasn’t spread further.”

When Dibs was diagnosed, Ballerini was preparing for the release show for her Patterns album at New York’s Madison Square Garden. At the time, Ballerini was under the impression that Dibs would only have a few final weeks with her, leading to a very emotional performance of “Penthouse” during the concert. In the tune, there is a line where she acknowledges the future she wants to have with Dibs by her side.

“I bought the house with a fence
Enough room for some kids, a backyard for Dibs.”

When she got to that line of the song, the audience screamed it alongside her, knowing how much Dibs meant to her. Feeling the love from her fans but also the hurt in her heart that she’s losing her heart dog, Ballerini breaks down. She stepped away from the mic and asked the audience to help her out while she composed herself.

“I’m going to need you to take this chorus for me.”

She tearfully said into the microphone, but her emotions took over, and she had trouble making it through the song—rightfully so.

Ballerini was blessed to have more time with Dibs.

In September of 2025, Ballerini shared with fans that Dibs had to undergo an unexpected surgery, but she did not elaborate on what the procedure was for. The timing of this post was during her brief split with Chase Rice, furthering the point that Dibs has been with Ballerini through so many tough chapters of life and is truly her built-in support system.

Sadly, cancer eventually took Dibs from this earth, and Ballerini is going to be left with a hole in her heart. Yesterday, Ballerini shared that Dibs went to doggy heaven on January 7, sharing a heartfelt love note to her beloved dog along with a collection of images throughout his life.

“My sweet dibs went to doggy heaven yesterday. He spent his last few days in his backyard looking at the sunshine and surrounded by his forever people. There are no words to articulate his role in my life, but I couldn’t have done the last ten years without him, and he will always be my soul dog…and I pray and believe we’ll find each other in every life.

His love and reach can’t be captured in an Instagram photo dump, or in a caption, but here’s a look at some happy from dibs. Thank you for loving him so loudly with me. i feel like the luckiest girl in the world that i got to be his dog mom, greatest gift of my life.”

Ballerini also shared on Dibs’ Instagram that although he might have crossed the rainbow bridge, his legacy will live on through his social media page, where videos and photos of him and the life he lived will still be shared.

“I’m cancer free now, and my last days were so happy. My mom and my aunts and dad and grandma are going to show you a lot of my life on this page because I have so many pictures and videos that we all wanna share. Also, love you and thank you.”

Rest in peace Dibs.