When Virgin River returns to Netflix for Season 6, one of its newest residents might look a little different than when you last saw them.

The show’s just-released Christmas episodes end with Jack gifting Mel a puppy named Pony, the latter being something she always wanted as a little girl. It’s a heartwarming moment as Mel instantly welcomes the pup into her life with open arms.

Pony will remain part of Mel and Jack’s life, but showrunner Patrick Sean Smith confirms to TVLine that the show will likely need to replace the current dog due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes delaying production on Season 6.

“I’d always anticipated there would be a time jump after the holidays when we pick up with Season 6, so we were going to have that dog age naturally as we headed back into production,” Smith says. “But we didn’t account for the five-month strike. So I don’t know where Pony is now in their maturation. I hope we don’t have to recast, but we might have to.”

The worst part? Alexandra Breckenridge (aka Mel) reveals to TVLine that production named the puppy Doc in real life, making his departure all the more tragic. Breckenridge also explains that Mel and Jack were originally supposed to get a dog much earlier in the series, a development that was delayed for logical reasons.

“[Charmaine] was going to give us her dog at one point, and I said, ‘No way,’ because [Jack wouldn’t] want to be stuck with her dog,” Breckenridge recalls. “First of all, given the circumstances between Mel and Charmaine, I said, ‘Why would Mel ever agree to this? I don’t think that makes sense or is appropriate.’ Second of all, it was during COVID, so the sets were locked down, everybody was in a mask and had a shield on their face. … So I