A dog died "of a broken heart" just three weeks after his four-legged best friend passed away.
The two pups were inseparable so after four-year-old Jaxon's death from heat exhaustion on February 11, Toby went into a period of intense mourning, his owner said.
Linda Raff told how devastated Toby, six, started chewing fur on the tops of his paws and developed painful sores on his back after they buried his friend.
Despite treatment, Toby's condition continued to worsen until he stopped eating and drinking and was 'shivering uncontrollably'.
A vet told Ms Raff that Toby may have had an undiagnosed autoimmune disease and was "just so [sad] and sick that he gave up and stopped fighting."
Ms Raff told Yahoo News Australia : "I saw that he was just a very, very sad boy after he lost Jaxon, he just never recovered, he died of a broken heart.
"The vet had originally said that Toby’s grief probably played a part in him becoming so sick to begin with because he was really down, so his immune system was probably lower than normal and once the skin condition broke out all over his body it all just became too much for him."
She added: "I was giving him a cuddle as he died."
Ms Raff said the vet told the family that Toby's physical symptoms could have been down to the humid weather but said his weakened immune system may have been linked to the emotional toll of losing Jaxon.
She said she is comforted by the fact that Jaxon will be 'waiting for his friend on the other side'.
Toby was buried in the back garden alongside his furry friend.
