A woman posted a deeply emotional video showing the moment her late mother’s elderly dog seemed to understand that her best friend was never coming back.

Stephany Acosta,from Fort Lauderdale,Florida,shared the clip on her TikTok account( steph.yourbff),where her mom’s nine-year-old Bichon,Coco,appears to process the loss.

Acosta herself is still grieving.“My mother passed away on September 14,2024,”she told Newsweek.“It’s been the hardest and most painful experience of my life.”Throughout this time,Coco has been by her side.“We’ve really leaned on each other,”Acosta shared.“She’s sweet,playful,and so affectionate.She’s also grown very attached to my daughter—my mom’s only grandchild.”

Coco is undoubtedly feeling the absence.For seven and a half years,she was Acosta’s mother’s constant companion.“My mom took her everywhere—to the beach,on trips,out to eat,even on quick errands to Walgreens,”Acosta recalled.“She was always on the go,and Coco was right there in the car with her.”

There was a period,however,right after her mother’s passing,when Coco was not with the family.“Another relative gave her away without asking me,”Acosta explained.Fortunately,the story took a happier turn.“I was able to bring her back home six weeks after my mom died,”she said.“Coco was thrilled to see me.”

The TikTok video was recorded on the day Acosta went to pick Coco up.She drove her mother’s old car to bring the dog home.While doing so,a thought struck her.“It occurred to me that Coco must be wondering where my mom went—she left for work one morning and never returned,”Acosta reflected.“Since the car was their special place for adventures,I hoped it might let Coco catch one last scent of her,in a way that could bring some closure.”

What happened next was captured on video.Coco jumped into her usual seat,then suddenly seemed to notice something—or someone—was missing.As the caption explains,it was as though Coco realized her owner was“really gone.”

“At first she was excited—she ran to the car,hopped in the back,sniffed around,then moved to the front passenger seat where she always sat,”Acosta described.“It might sound sentimental,but I think she caught my mom’s scent,but it was faint,and that’s what made her sense something was wrong.The way she leaned back and opened her eyes wide—in that moment,I felt she understood.”

As surprising as it may seem,dogs experience much of the world through smell rather than sight.According to UCLA Health,a dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than a human’s.

Humans have around 6 million scent receptors,while dogs can have up to 300 million.Their brains also dedicate roughly 40 times more capacity to processing smells than ours do.

In that tender moment,Coco may have detected the lingering trace of her beloved owner and realized,suddenly,that she wasn’t there anymore.Whatever the case,Acosta finds great comfort in having Coco with her now.“I call her my little sister,”she said.“My mom was my best friend—I’ll always love her.Coco meant everything to her,and it feels right that she’s here with me now.”