“Goodbye my son.”

Hough revealed Romie’s death on Sunday, October 25, sharing an emotional tribute filled with memories of the dog who had been part of his life for more than a decade.

For Derek, Romie had never simply been a pet.

He had entered Derek’s life during a much different time, when the dancer was still trying to figure out exactly where his life was going.

“Romie came into my life when I was just trying to figure life out, it was just me and him,” Derek wrote.

Over the years, Romie became a constant presence.

He saw Derek at his lowest moments and celebrated the happiest ones without ever understanding awards, television ratings, careers, or fame.

To Romie, Derek was simply his person.

Derek said the dog loved him through every version of himself and gave him purpose during periods when he struggled to find it on his own.

Then Derek’s world started changing.

He fell in love with fellow dancer Hayley Erbert.

Romie remained there.

Derek and Hayley built a home together.

Romie remained there.

They married in 2023.

Still, Romie was there.

But one important chapter had yet to happen.

Derek wanted his longtime companion to meet the newest member of their family.

Derek and Hayley announced in July 2025 that they were expecting their first child.

Their daughter, Everley Capri Hough, arrived on December 29, 2025.

Her birth came after several extremely difficult years for the couple.

In 2022, Derek and Hayley were involved in a serious car accident.

The following year brought an even more terrifying emergency.

Hayley suffered a brain bleed after a blood vessel burst.

Doctors performed emergency surgery, removing a significant portion of her skull to relieve the pressure before she later underwent another procedure involving a skull implant.

Then, in 2024, the couple suffered a miscarriage.

After everything they had endured, Everley’s arrival carried enormous meaning.

Hayley later described their daughter as “our rainbow after the storm.”

Derek, reflecting on his wife’s journey, spoke about how extraordinary it was to watch Hayley go from fighting through such a frightening medical crisis to giving birth to their daughter.

By then, however, Romie was getting older.

Derek knew their time together was becoming limited.

And he made one final request of his longtime companion.

Hold on.

Just long enough to meet Everley.

Romie did.

Among the memories shared following his death was a touching video showing nine-month-old Everley crawling beside the dog who had been part of her father’s life for 14 years.

For Derek, it meant Romie had been there for one more milestone.

He had watched Derek grow.

Watched him fall in love.

Watched him become a husband.

And finally, he got to see him become a father.

Romie’s relationship with Hayley was nearly as deep.

While Derek had loved him for 14 years, Hayley had shared approximately 11 of those years with him.

In her own tribute, she remembered Romie as her “buddy boy.”

He was the first dog she truly considered hers after she moved to Los Angeles.

Over the years, he became her adventure companion, her snuggler, and eventually the unofficial leader of the couple’s growing collection of animals.

Despite weighing around 65 pounds, Romie apparently never received the message that he was too large to be a lap dog.

To Hayley, he was a gentle giant.

A protector.

A constant presence.

She thanked Derek for bringing Romie into her life and reflected on how the dog had eventually become a big brother not only to their other animals, but to baby Everley as well.

Derek responded beneath her tribute with a short message:

“Our beautiful boy ❤️.”

But the couple’s love for their animals had been obvious long before Romie’s final days.

Back in 2021, Derek opened up about the home he and Hayley shared with their rescue pets.

At the time, the household included Romie, a German shepherd/husky mix, another dog named Luna, and two cats, Palo and Lily.

Their pets had apparently taken over Derek’s camera roll.

He joked that whenever he tried to find a particular photograph, he had to scroll through endless pictures of cats and dogs.

Romie, by then the older gentleman of the group, had even earned a celebrity-inspired nickname.

As gray hairs began appearing around his face, Derek and Hayley jokingly called him “George Clooney.”

Romie was apparently the calm one.

He would relax around the house, quietly observing everything happening around him.

Luna was very different.

The couple jokingly called her “lunatic” because she constantly ran around, chased things, and pulled up plants.

Their cat Palo had been rescued from a gutter and later developed the habit of inserting himself into Derek and Hayley’s yoga sessions.

He would climb onto them or walk directly between them while they stretched.

Palo eventually earned the nickname “Prince Palo” because, according to Derek, he behaved as though the entire house belonged to him.

Lily preferred a quieter life, often lounging on the couch and observing the chaos from a comfortable distance.

It may have been a busy household, but Derek made clear that he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

For him, the animals offered something much deeper than entertainment.

They were reminders to slow down.

To stay present.

To recognize that regardless of what was happening professionally or personally, there was always unconditional love waiting at home.

He once described them simply as “the loves of our lives.”

That love also inspired Derek to support rescue animals and shelter initiatives.

As the years passed, however, Romie began slowing down.

Near the end of his life, Derek shared an update showing just how deeply concerned he had become.

He posted an image of himself lying on the floor, nose-to-nose with his longtime companion.

Romie wasn’t doing well.

Derek revealed that he had been sleeping on the floor beside him for several days.

And as he stayed close, his mind began returning to all the different stages of life they had experienced together.

Fourteen years is a long time.

Long enough for a dog to become attached to memories that have almost nothing to do with the dog itself.

Homes.

Relationships.

Career changes.

Heartbreak.

Marriage.

Illness.

Recovery.

A baby.

Romie had been present through all of it.

Then came the morning when Derek instinctively looked toward the familiar place where his dog would normally appear.

Romie wasn’t there.

For years, Derek had apparently become accustomed to seeing him emerge from around the bushes.

Now he knew that familiar figure would never come around the corner again.

The absence was immediate.

And devastating.

Derek described an ache that felt unbearable.

But he also recognized what that pain represented.

The grief was so intense because the love had been equally enormous.

Romie had lived inside their family’s life completely.

And Derek made clear that death could not erase that.

In the video accompanying his farewell, short messages appeared over footage of his longtime companion.

“14 years by my side.”

Then:

“I miss you so much already.”

Another followed:

“My heart aches.”

And finally came the words that seemed to capture exactly how Derek saw the dog who had grown beside him for so many years.

“Goodbye my son.”

Not simply goodbye to a pet.

Not simply goodbye to a dog.

Goodbye to a member of his family.

“My Romie boy,” Derek added.

Then came one final promise:

“I will love you forever.”

In the caption, Derek offered another farewell to his beloved companion:

“Goodbye for now my sweet sweet Romie Boy 💔🐕.”

Hayley’s tribute carried a similar message.

After 11 years of loving the dog who had become her companion, protector, and family member, she ended with the hope that their separation was only temporary.

“Until we find each other again, my buddy boy.”

Romie’s death comes during a year in which another “Dancing With the Stars” judge also publicly mourned a beloved animal.

Earlier in 2026, Carrie Ann Inaba announced the death of her dog Peanut, calling her “my eternal love” and “my little queen.”

For Derek, however, Romie’s passing marks the end of a chapter stretching across virtually every major transformation of his life.

Romie knew Derek before Hayley became his wife.

He remained beside the couple through frightening health crises and painful losses.

He stayed long enough to see their family grow.

And somehow, before leaving, he fulfilled the one final wish Derek had made for him.

He met Everley.

That may be why Derek’s three-word goodbye feels so powerful.

After 14 years, “pet” no longer seemed like a large enough word for what Romie had become.

He had been there through everything.

And when Derek finally had to say goodbye, he said it the way a grieving father might:

“Goodbye my son.”