Dog the Bounty Hunter Says His Kids Are ‘Barely Making It’ Without Wife Beth Chapman

Duane “Dog” Chapman is speaking out about how the family is doing two months after Beth Chapman‘s death. The reality star tragically passed in June after a long battle with throat and lung cancer. The 66-year-old Dog the Bounty Hunter star told PEOPLE some of the children are really struggling with the loss.

“Each one copes differently, there is a few that really barely making it,” Duane said. “We don’t know what to do. We haven’t read, we weren’t prepared. I lost my mother first, and when my mom passed away, I’m like, ‘I wish dad would have died first, you know, ’cause I love my mommy.’ So I went to them and said, ‘I’m so sorry that I didn’t die first and mom did.’”

“And they were like, ‘Yeah dad, why?’” he continued. “So I was like, ‘Oh my god, I know what that feels like, I should’ve been the one. The guy goes first.’”

Beth is survived by Duane as well as four children, Bonni, 20, Garry Chapman, 18, Dominic Davis, 34, and Cecily Chapman, 26, (Beth’s daughter with her ex-husband whom Duane adopted).

“So that’s hard for them… And I guess I’m the softy of the group, because I never wanted to punish. I said, ‘Your mom is gonna get you if you don’t do that.’ So now I gotta be the one that does that, and I don’t like that and they don’t either,” Duane added about how things have changed.

Despite the family coming together in their time of grief, Dog says that most of the responsibilities are now falling to him.

“It’s not been that long,” he said. “They are helping cook, because Beth was a fantastic cook.”

He added getting emotional, “I am doing their laundry, I’m vacuuming, making my own bed. So I don’t wanna lie, they do nothing. They’re kids… It’s just, ‘Dad’s there, he can do it.’”

Duane has been open about his grief ever since the loss of his beloved wife. He previously opened up about Beth’s final moments, recalling how she encouraged him to let her go.

“The last few moments she said, ‘Come in here right now, in the bathroom,’” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I went in and she said, ‘Look at me.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re freaking beautiful baby.’ [And she said,] ‘Look at me, Duane Chapman.’ And I did, I always saw Beth and she said, ‘Please, let me go.’”

“And I didn’t even make a decision, I almost said, ‘I can’t.’ Before I could say, ‘All right,’ she couldn’t breathe and I called the ambulance… But every day, she talked as if she was not there. ‘Here’s what to do with this, here’s what to do with that. Don’t keep running your mouth. When they ask you a specific question, just answer that.’”

Fans will get a chance to see the couple together again, and see the final months of Beth’s cancer with the new series, Dog’s Most Wanted. The show will premiere Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on WGN America.