Hilaria Baldwin and Alec Baldwin’s Dog Dies Amid ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season

Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, are opening up about a difficult loss in their family.

In a joint Instagram post shared on Saturday, Sept. 27, the couple announced the death of their dog, Dama. The post included sweet words to the late dog, alongside a collection of images of Dama. The carousel begins with a picture of Alec, 67, holding both dogs on a veterinarian’s table, followed by a few snaps of Hilaria, 41, snuggling with Dama, and the dog spending time with the family.

“Rest in peace, sweet Dama,” reads the caption of the tribute post. “You brought so much joy to our lives…you were that dog that slept on my pregnant belly.”

The post did not reveal Dama’s age, but the caption noted that her “life was long and happy.”

The emotional message from the couple continued, “I know you are running [through] fields and eating all the cookies you want. We are sad but grateful that we had you in our lives.”

The heartbreaking news comes amid Hilaria’s appearance as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars for season 34. During the Tuesday, Sept. 30 episode of the competition, Alec and the seven children he shares with Hilaria sat in the front row of the audience to support her. 

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The duo, who have been married since 2012, share three daughters, Carmen, 12, María, 4, and Ilaria, 2, along with four sons, Rafael, 10, Leonardo, 9, Romeo, 7, and Eduardo, 5. Alec also shares a daughter, Ireland, 29, with his ex-wife, Kim Basinger.

When the yoga instructor spoke to PEOPLE following her latest performance, alongside professional dancer and partner, Gleb Savchenko, she shared why it was important to her to see her kids in the audience cheering her on. 

“The purpose of dancing is not just to feel and to enjoy the work that we do, but it’s to make people happy [and] to entertain people. We want to do this because we want to bring joy to people,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “And, so to have Kris [Jenner] and Alec and my children and Shangela and my friends here is so wonderful.”