Kate Gosselin Breaks Down in Tears Over Dog Adoption Journey

Kate Gosselin is giving fans a raw look at her journey with her newly adopted rescue dog, Koda.

“I was just crying this morning,” Gosselin, 51, said in a Tuesday, May 26, TikTok video as she detailed her struggles with getting Koda adjusted to life in her home, where she also has a German Shepard named Meika.

The former reality star continued, “I’m tired. It’s getting to be a lot, which makes me sound like a baby, but the truth is, I’ve just been on watch constantly hoping nothing, you know, happens and watching them all the time.”

Gosselin, who rose to fame in the mid 2000s documenting life with her eight children on TLC’s Kate Plus 8 (formerly Jon & Kate Plus 8), then compared raising Koda to raising her kids.

“I am 51 now. I’m not 29, 30. So it’s just gotten to be a lot,” she added.

Gosselin called Koda, who is a Malinois mix puppy, a “humongous personality.”

“She is now very obsessed with her ball, equally as Meika, and she could run forever,” she explained, becoming emotional. “So, we’re seeing the humongous energy of a malamute now, and I’m really starting to doubt myself.”

Gosselin also detailed the struggles she’s had with managing both Meika and Koda as the dogs adjust to life together, admitting that it can be hard when she’s by herself. (The TLC alum adopted Koda with her boyfriend, Steve Neild, whom she went public with last year.)

“Steve went to work, and so I’m with them today,” she added. “And I always turn on Bob Ross painting when we’re on the TV, when we’re together. So I try to keep them calm, and I take them on walks.”

Gosselin broke down in tears again as she recalled Koda attempting to destroy a bed that once belonged to her late German Shepard Nanuq, who died in December 2025.

“It’s our favorite bed. I’ve had it for, gosh, 15 plus years or more,” she explained, adding that the bed was “very special” to her. “That really upset me. That would really break my heart. And I know that things get destroyed.”

Gosselin noted, “She just has a lot of energy and needs to be doing something. I can see that plain as day. She’s very sweet, she’s very loving. I think she wants to obey and wants to please us, it’s just [that] we have to direct her energy there.”

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Gosselin concluded that Koda will be starting training soon, so she’s “excited” and hopeful that they will see some improvements in the pup’s behavior.

“The pressure is weighing on both of us,” Gosselin admitted. “Which I know is part of rescue. But, at the end of the day, probably no one else would have saved her. So, I know that we’re doing a good thing. We just have to hang in [there].”

Gosselin revealed in April that she and Neild would be adopting Koda, who was previously named Chiqis. The pup came home with the couple in May, and Gosselin has shared daily updates since.