Reese Witherspoon's beloved dog Pepper has died

Alongside a shot of her pooch sat in a field, Reese wrote on Instagram: "Our sweet Pepper passed away yesterday.

"My goodness, she was such a loyal and devoted family member. I am so heart broken, but I am also deeply grateful for all the love and comfort she brought our family.

"Now she’s in dog heaven where all great pets go. Chasing tennis balls, running through open fields of wild flowers and being the Queen that she is.

"That’s what I believe. We will always love you, Pepper."

Reese's friends and fans flooded her post with messages of support after the sad news.

Elizabeth Banks commented: "So sorry for your loss."

Julianne Moore simply replied with a red heart, while Laure Dern wrote: "Sweetest Pepper. Such a heartbreak."

Last year, the AGE-year-old star revealed one of her dogs ate her shoes - although she wasn't sure whether it was Pepper or her other canine companion, Lou.

She shared a video on her Instagram Story of herself questioning the pair, saying: "Which one of you guys ate all the shoes? Pepper, was it you? Lou did you eat all the shoes?"

But the dogs ignored the questions, leaving Reese to figure it out for herself.

And it wasn't long before she thought she'd discovered the guilty party as she shared another video of Lou snoring away, which she captioned: "Shoe coma."

This wasn't the first time Lou has been caught chewing the 'Morning Show' actress' possessions.

In October, Reese told fans she had had to confront Lou after he chomped on her rug.

She shared a photo of the blue-eyed bulldog sitting on the rug and wrote on her Instagram Story: "Guilty #LoutheBulldog (sic)"

But the 'Legally Blonde' star didn't stay mad for long.

She wrote over another picture of the dog on the rug: "But I forgive him..."