Heartbreaking truth about what really happened to JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette’s beloved dog named Friday… as friends lift lid on final years hidden from public

They were notoriously private, attempting to shield their relationship and personal lives from the prying eyes of the paparazzi and the public, but John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette happily welcomed one interloper into their intimate world: their beloved dog Friday.

Though Friday was oblivious of just how famous his owners were, he was as much of a staple of the tabloids as JFK Jr and Bessette, who were frequently snapped while taking him for walks around their Tribeca neighborhood.

Beloved in the offices of George, JFK Jr’s political magazine, Friday was rumored to have been named after the one day of the week that he was allowed to accompany JFK Jr to the office.

At home, the dog kept company with Ruby, the mischievous black housecat that JFK Jr got as a gift for Bessette.

And though JFK Jr referred to the beloved canine as a ‘pound puppy,’ Friday’s pedigree was as well-heeled as his owners.

According to the Summit Daily News, Friday, a black and white purebred Canaan dog, was purchased in 1995 from Donna Dodson, an Illinois-based American Kennel Club member and the owner of Dogs by Donna boarding and grooming.

Dodson selected a precious pooch that she felt was handsome enough to match JFK Jr’s dazzling good looks.

‘He was so good looking,’ she told the Summit Daily News in 1999. ‘A perfect match, but still not nearly as good looking as his owner.’

Dodson, who also served as the Health Chair for The Canaan Dog Club of America, said that JFK Jr was devoted to his dog.

‘Friday accepted him for who he really was; dogs have no hidden agenda,’ she said back in the same 1999 interview.

Dodson passed away in 2024, but not before she had shared her memories of conversations with JFK Jr, in which he told her that he was interested in getting a Canaan dog because of ‘the naturalness’ of the breed. The dogs are known for their independence, sensitivity and ability to guard.

She said of JFK Jr: ‘He was so unassuming. I could tell he wanted a dog so very much.’

Friday was a welcome third wheel to the glamorous couple, who, according to The Real Housewives of New York star Carole Radziwill, JFK Jr’s cousin by marriage and Carolyn’s close friend, considered the dog their ‘child.’

‘She was obsessed with [Friday],’ Radziwill said of Carolyn.

That obsession is captured in a scene in Ryan Murphy’s hit new FX series Love Story when the couple are shown during their infamous fight in Battery Park in 1996. Amidst the heat and the passion of that torrid moment JFK Jr refers to Friday as ‘his dog.’ Bessette screams the retort, ‘OUR dog!’

There was little in the couple’s life to which Friday did not bear silent witness and he often traveled with them.

In fact, the only reason he was not with the couple on their fatal 1999 flight to Hyannis Port was because both Friday and Ruby had been sent on ahead and were already at the Kennedy compound there.

Relatives had been watching them for weeks leading up to JFK Jr’s cousin Rory’s wedding because of their owners’ busy schedules.

Following the deaths of JFK Jr and Bessette, Friday was cared for by Efigenio ‘Effie’ Pinheiro – Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ longtime personal assistant, who later worked for JFK Jr. 

Pinheiro was so trusted by the Kennedy family that he was tasked with arranging the greenery at the altar at JFK Jr and Bessette’s secret wedding on Cumberland Island, Georgia in 1996.

Friday reportedly moved to Portugal with Pinheiro, where he spent the rest of his life shielded from the public eye.

Ruby was reportedly adopted by Santina Goodman, a Brown University classmate of JFK Jr and one of his closest friends.

But according to Radziwill, though Friday was loved and cared for, he never forgot his beloved owners, dying in 2002 just three years after their deaths.

To her it seemed simple: ‘The dog died of a broken heart after [they] died.’