Marnie the Dog was one of the pioneer pet influencers of : With her lolling tongue and goofy affect, she became a viral star in the 2010s, racking up millions of , a book deal ( ) and even her own app, Marnie Pro, which allowed users to insert Marnie into any image. That ended in 2020, when the shih tzu rescue died, likely age 18. Her owner, former MTV producer Shirley Braha, was devastated.
““I was so deeply in love with her — she was so special and phenomenal. It was the relationship of a lifetime,” she says now. Fortunately, Braha had banked a vast archive of photos and videos to keep Marnie’s memory alive.
“I’ve definitely held back pictures of her, some of the best I’ve taken, and I go through my hard drive sometimes and think I do want to post them,” she says. “It’s bittersweet because we did have the most fabulous life together.” Braha has opted to maintain Marnie’s social presence, mostly on Instagram, where Marnie has 1.
5 million followers. “I post when there’s something that feels pressing, like a post in support of Palestinian resistance,” says Braha, adding that “I get messages about deals here and there, but it’s not really the focus of my life right now.” Marnie’s book remains on Amazon, though, and Braha has about 50 signed — well, paw printed — copies that she might offer later.
Braha isn’t alone. Since social media subsumed the world, it’s produced an unlikely set of superstars: cats and dogs who have become pow.