SO. Senior Dog Witnesses Owners’ Engagement, Then Heartbreakingly Dies 4 Days Later: ‘He Was Meant to Be There’

“It felt like the stars aligned having him be there with us in his final days,” bride-to-be Morgan Yont tells PEOPLE

A senior dog spent his final days celebrating his owners’ engagement.

Because Morgan Yont and Matthew Kaczur’s “best friend” was their beloved dog, Arlo, Kaczur, 29, thought it was only right that he be included in his surprise proposal to Yont, 27, on Sept. 27 at Bragg Creek in Alberta, Canada. When the approximately 11-year-old rescue dog witnessed his owner pop the question, it made the moment all the more memorable.

“We were both in tears, Arlo was patiently waiting and looking up at us as it all happened which made it extra special,” Kaczur tells PEOPLE of the proposal.

The couple were on a climbing trip with two friends, with Arlo tagging along in a children’s stroller. Kaczur admits that “planning an exact proposal location was difficult” because he had to secretly scope out a spot with the best scenery and privacy. He ultimately chose a tranquil creek surrounded by tall trees with yellowing leaves.

Pretending to pose for photos by the peaceful stream, with Arlo lying down on a cushion between them, Kaczur suddenly dropped down on one knee and presented Yont with a sparkling, emerald-cut diamond engagement ring.

“I had a plan of what I wanted to say, I think I nailed the first six words, then I blacked out and didn’t get anything else out that I had planned,” Kaczur remembers.

The whole time, Arlo lovingly looked up at his humans, who adopted him at around 5 years old when they were less than a year into dating in January 2020. Because Arlo had been battling cancer for a year and a half, Yont and Kaczur knew their “time together was limited,” and cherished every moment with him.

“Arlo’s been a huge part of our lives … he came on every trip, every family dinner, every moment, big or small. We knew our time together was limited with his cancer diagnosis, so it was special to share another huge milestone all together,” Yont tells PEOPLE. “He grew up alongside us so it felt like the stars aligned having him be there with us in his final days.”

Arlo — who was a rescue from rural Canada and is a mix of breeds, including German Shepherd, Labrador retriever, rottweiler, husky and coonhound — was diagnosed with Stage III Lymphoma on March 12, 2024. He started chemotherapy two days later, and underwent 19 weeks of rotating drugs through IV. The pup later did a second shorter stint of treatments when his cancer returned.

After Yont and Kaczur got engaged, they celebrated with dinner at The Italian Farmhouse in Bragg Creek. Four days later, their joy turned into heartbreak.

The couple brought Arlo to the vet after he was experiencing digestive issues. There, the veterinarians discovered an arrhythmia. Despite rushing to the animal hospital, Arlo died that night in the intensive care unit. The cause of death was cardiac failure, according to the autopsy.

Arlo.Credit: 

Morgan YontArlo.Credit: 

Morgan Yont

“We were devastated,” Yont says, noting that the shift in Arlo’s health was “extremely sudden.”

She continues, “I don’t exactly have words for the drop in my stomach I felt when we got the call … To love and be loved by a dog so deeply is something so special, and grief is the cost of a life well lived.”

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Yont and Kaczur met through a mutual friend in 2019, with Kaczur organizing a picnic with a different friend’s two dogs for their first date because he knew Yont “was such a dog lover.” After the pair adopted Arlo, they went on many mountain adventures together and even had an Instagram account dedicated to him. Now, they hold their memories of Arlo close to their heart.

“Losing him right after getting engaged feels like the end of such a special chapter,” Yont wrote on Instagram. “There’s not a doubt in my mind he was meant to be there. He’ll always be part of our story, the heart of where it all began.”