Meghan Markle had to leave her beloved rescue dog with friends in Canada when she moved to the U.K. to be with Harry because the pooch “never took to Harry,” sources close to the Sussexes reportedly revealed.
Royal watchers had expected Meghan would take back her dog, a Labrador-German Shepherd dog named Bogart, when the family left the U.K. and moved to Santa Barbara, California. However, an associate of the Sussexes revealed the Duchess of Sussex decided not to take the dog back “for the sake of family harmony,” royal expert Dan Wootton wrote in The Sun.
Meghan and Harry currently live in their mansion in the Montecito neighborhood of Santa Barbara with their Beagle, Guy, and a black Labrador named Pula.
Meghan Markle adored her dog Bogart, but he ‘never took to Harry’
According to an insider, Meghan’s dog got off on the wrong foot with Harry. The dog refused to warm to Harry during the time the couple spent together in Canada.
“Meghan adored that dog but the decision not to take him back was based on Bogart’s relationship with Harry,” the source said, according to The Sun. “Bogart never took to Harry when they spent time together in Canada.”
“He didn’t like Harry. Meghan was very vocal about the fact it wouldn’t be fair to take him back full-time, given Bogart’s feelings for her husband,” the insider added.
Bogart was Meghan Markle’s first dog
Meghan’s pals revealed that the Duchess lived with Bogart and Guy before she met Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex revealed in an interview with Reader’s Digest that Bogart was her “first dog ever.” She met Bogart at a rescue home in Los Angeles. While sitting him, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi walked in.
DeGeneres asked her whether the dog was hers and she said no.
“You have to take that dog,” DeGeneres reportedly urged.
Meghan decided to take the dog home after DeGeneres urged her. She later acquired her Beagle Guy to keep Bogart company.
Meghan treated her dogs ‘like her babies’
Meghan lived with Bogart and Guy while on the cast of the legal drama Suits in Toronto. She loved her dogs and treated them “like her babies.”
“She bought them Union Jack dog jumpers to keep them warm when they were puppies,” the insider said. “She misses them when she is away and will even get someone to FaceTime her with them so she can talk to them.”
Meghan is known to be a dog lover. According to Express, she is a patron of London’s Mayhew, an organization that helps to place dogs and cats in new homes.