Anderson Cooper's beloved dog Molly passed on Monday, according to USA Today, prompting Cooper to send out a sweet Instagram tribute with a pair of pictures and this message: "An old picture of my sweet dog Molly, who passed away today."

Clearly Cooper is a dog lover; we knew that ever before the Instagram pictures. But seeing the picture of him snuggling with Molly the Welsh Springer Spaniel is even more heartwarming than the average dog lover pose.

Molly was featured in this video back in 2011 with Cooper, according to Woofipedia, and the bond between canine and owner is clearly remarkable.

In a "60 Minutes" segment last October, while Cooper reported on the science behind whether dogs really love their owners, he commented, according to Pulse.ng,"I've always wondered if my dog is scamming me ... You look at your dog, and you're like, 'Do you really love, me or is this a trick?'"

"What really stuck with me is that when dogs are looking at you, they're hugging you with their eyes," he later explained after interviewing dog researcher Brian Hare. "They're actually getting oxytocin - which is what some people call the love hormone - it actually feels good for them to be making that eye contact. I totally took that home with me. My dog - she doesn't look at me nearly enough!"

We think it is safe to say, Molly wasn't "scamming" her owner, she was adoring him. And the feeling was mutual.