Kate Gosselin said she was crying, exhausted and doubting herself as she posted an emotional update on May 26 about the rescue dog she brought home earlier this spring. On day 12 of integrating Koda into her house, the former reality television star said the Malinois mix puppy had turned daily life into a constant watch.
“I was just crying this morning,” Gosselin said in the TikTok post, adding that she had been “on watch constantly hoping nothing, you know, happens” and monitoring the dogs all the time. She said the strain had reached the point where she was beginning to question whether she could keep up. “I am 51 now. I’m not 29, 30. So it’s just gotten to be a lot,” she said.
Gosselin first revealed in April that she had secured adoption papers for Koda, then called Chiqis, and said she and Steve Neild would welcome the dog into their home in mid-May. In the May 26 update, she said Koda is “a humongous personality,” obsessed with her ball and able to “run forever.” She also said the puppy needs a lot of mental and physical stimulation, which has made the adjustment harder while Meika, her German shepherd, is already in the home.
That balance has become even more delicate because Gosselin said she was home with the dogs that day after Neild went to work. She said she turns on Bob Ross painting videos when the dogs are together and takes them on walks to keep them calm. Even with those routines, she said Koda has already destroyed a rug and damaged Nanuq’s bed, which she described as her favorite bed for “15 plus years or more” and “very special” to her.
The challenge is also emotional. Gosselin said the pressure, strain and stress of the adoption had been weighing on both her and Neild, and she said she was starting to doubt herself. Still, she defended the decision to bring Koda home, saying that “probably no one else would have saved her.” She said training with the puppy would begin soon, a step she appears to see as necessary if the household is going to settle into a workable routine.
Gosselin, best known as the former star of Jon & Kate Plus 8, has long spoken publicly about life with dogs, especially German shepherds, and she has shared the highs and lows of the adoption process on social media. Nanuq’s death in December had already left a mark on the family. Now, with Koda in the house and training still ahead, Gosselin is trying to manage the gap between affection and exhaustion — and she made clear that, for the moment, the work is still far from over.
