Their noses peeking out from under the fence, Nathan Cirillo's dogs wait patiently for their dad - unaware that he will never be coming home.

A day after the 24-year-old Canadian reservist and single dad was gunned down in Ottawa on Wednesday, his forlorn dogs could be seen peering out from his family's home in Hamilton, Ontario.

Cirillo was devoted to his animals, posting image after image of him grinning beside them to his Instagram feed. Friends also recounted the story of him recently finding an abandoned, emaciated puppy that he nursed back to heath and then re-homed.

'Found him a pretty home, hope he has a good life,' Cirillo wrote just four weeks ago of the pup.

Where is he? Heartbreaking images show dogs peeking out from beneath Corporal Nathan Cirillo's family home on Thursday, a day after he was shot dead outside the Parliament

Forlorn: The two dogs peeked out from beneath the fence at the family's home in Hamilton, Ontario

Missed: Cirillo had two German shepherd-type dogs and recently nursed an abandoned puppy to health

Cirillo, who was shot dead as he stood guard at the National War Memorial outside the Canadian Parliament on Wednesday, also leaves behind a six-year-old son.

He was bringing up the boy, Marcus, alone - with help from his mother, Kathy - after the boy's mother was no longer in the picture, friends have said.

Former girlfriend Randi Lotsberg said that Cirillo lit up whenever he spoke about his son.

'He stepped up. Definitely admirable,' she told The Star. 'I feel so bad right now for his kid. Now his son doesn't have a dad.'

Tragic: The animal-loving Hamilton, Ontario native was shot at close range and rushed to a nearby hospital

Family: Cirillo leaves behind his two dogs and his six-year-old son Marcus, left, who he was bringing up alone

Waiting: Cirillo's son is now expected to stay with his mother, Kathy, who has helped with his care

He met the boy's mother, Kendra, at the Ancaster Fair in Jerseyville after he was kicked out for not paying to get in. Outside he met Kendra and a friend, who asked for a ride home,Metro News reported. They dated and went on to have Marcus.

Cirillo's mother Kathy, who is traveling to Ottawa, will now likely take care of Marcus, CBC reported. She took care of him when Cirillo was working or away on his military duties, Lotsberg said.

Nathan's uncle Jim Cirillo told reporters from a home in Hamilton that the soldier's mother is in total shock.

'She's saying she doesn't believe it,' he told CBC. 'She went on the internet and she saw it and she...I don't know how she didn't pass out. She's just completely broken, broken right now.'

Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina said that he had visited a makeshift memorial to Cirillo outside his regiment's barracks before going to the family's home with Police Chief Glenn De Caire.

As he spoke to the slain soldier's relatives, little Marcus wandered out to greet everyone. He likely didn't understand what had just happened, the mayor said.

Seconds before: A tourist snapped this photo, likely the last ever taken of Corporal Nathan Cirillo (left) before he was gunned down by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau in an attack on Ottowa's Parliament Hill on Wednesday

Ominous: Responders frantically tried reviving Cirillo at the base of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

'At what point does a five-year-old actually understand that?' Bratina asked.

Cirillo had dreamed of serving his country since he was a teenager. He became a cadet when he was just 13 and joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders about five years ago.

Friends said he loved country music and was a fitness fanatic who had worked as a personal trainer.

'Nathan was a good man,' friend Marie Michele told CBC News. 'He would give anything to anyone.'

'He always had a smile on his face,' his friend Peter DiBussolo told The Ottawa Citizen. 'He was always walking around giving people handshakes, introducing people to himself.'

Manager Billy Pozeg of Club Absinthe, where Cirillo worked as a bouncer, told CBC Cirillo often showed up straight from the armury in his fatigues.

Paying respects: A man wearing an Argylls jacket places flowers at a memorial outside the gates of the John Weir Foote Armory, the home of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada

Emotional memorial: A woman holds her head at the impromptu memorial in Hamilton, where 24-year-old fallen reservist Corporal Nathan Cirillo was being honored

Loved: People sign a Canadian flag at a makeshift memorial to Cirillo outside of The Lieutenant-Colonel John Weir Foote Armoury in Hamilton, Ontario on Thursday

No matter how tired he was from back-to-back shifts, he lifted the mood of every room he entered, Pozeg said.

Last photos: This image of a happy Cirillo was taken by a tourist in the days before his death

On a Facebook memorial page, set up just hours after Cirillo's death, friends and loved ones recounted stories of his kindness.

One described an incident where she had traveled to Hamilton for a night out with friends but they were unable to meet her - but Cirillo was there.

'Nathan stayed in downtown after he had finished with the army and waited for me even though it was snowing and well below 0C and my bus was over an hour late,' Megan Newman wrote.

'He stood at the station and waited and took me home, he even had a coffee in his hand for me. He was a true stand-up guy, who lived for his son and family also the military. He will be a big miss.'

Family members said they found out Cirillo was the victim after seeing footage on the news.

'When I saw the ambulance take him in and I saw his receding hairline, I knew it was my nephew,' an unidentified aunt told the Globe and Mail.

On Wednesday, he was photographed by a Parliament Hill visitor standing by the Tomb mere moments before the attack.

The Hamilton, Ontario native served Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. That regiment is one of the country's largest army reserve units in Canada and guarding the National War Memorial is part soldiers' ceremonial duties.

Saddened: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen also paid their respects on Thursday by leaving flowers at the site where the soldier was gunned down

Remembered: Flowers with a card sit at the foot of the War Memorial in Ottawa on Thursday

'I AM MAD AT OUR SON': TERRORIST'S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT 'I am writing this note on behalf of my husband and myself. No words can express the sadness we are feeling at this time. 'We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow. We send our deepest condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both crying for them. We also wish to apologize for all the pain, fright and chaos he created. 'We have no explanation to offer. I am mad at our son, I don’t understand and part of me wants to hate him at this time. You write that our son was vulnerable, we don’t know, we (he) was lost and did not fit in. I his mother spoke with him last week over lunch, I had not seen him for over five years before that. So I have very little insight to offer. We don’t wish to be part of any media circus, we don’t think it will add anything to the conversation. Please respect our privacy although many may not feel we deserve any ... Once again we are so sorry.' Advertisement

The reservists are rotated on an hourly or bi-hourly basis, and it could have been any of the men -- some part-time and others full -- who served the duty on Parliament Hill Wednesday in their Black Watch tartan kilt, Glengarry and other regimental garb. But the fate befell Cirillo.

Many of his closest friends were in his regiment, including Brendan Stevenson, who was believed to be standing beside him at the grave of the unknown soldier when he was shot, according to Maclean's.

Seconds later after the photo was taken, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot Cirillo, whose ceremonial weapon was not loaded. The soldier was rushed to a hospital, but soon succumbed to the wounds.

Twitter user Kamakazi19982 posted the photo with the caption: 'Ok so we were on a tour at the war monument in Ottawa a few minutes ago, a few seconds later there was a shooting.'

The horror began when a masked Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Cirillo standing guard at Canada's war memorial Wednesday, then stormed Parliament in an attack that was stopped cold when he was shot to death by the ceremonial sergeant-at-arms.

Another constable Samearn Son was shot in the leg but is expected to make a full recovery.

Canada's prime minister called it the country's second terrorist attack in three days.

The country was already on alert because of a deadly hit-and-run assault Monday against two Canadian soldiers by a man Harper described as an 'ISIS-inspired terrorist.'

Gunned down: He had been in Ottawa because members of the Argylls were standing guard this week

Loss: 24-year-old Carillo served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Hamilton, Ontario

Friends described Cirillo as a fitness fanatic. The 24-year-old worked part-time as a personal trainer as well as a bouncer at a Hamilton nightclub

One soldier was killed in the first attack.

'We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated,' Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed in an address to the nation.

Investigators offered little information about the gunman but he is the son of Susan Bibeau who works for the Immigration and Refuge Board of Canada.

On Thursday, Ms Bibeau spoke from her home to apologize for her son's actions.

'We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow.'

'We send our deepest condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both crying for them. We also wish to apologize for all the pain, fright and chaos he created.'

On Thursday, sergeant-in-arms Kevin Vickers was given a hero's welcome to parliament with a standing ovation from politicians across the political spectrum.

Gunman: Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the Muslim convert who shot dead solider Nathan Cirillo and opened fire on Canadian Parliament

Race: An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday after multiple gunmen attacked the Parliament and a nearby mall, injuring at least three people

Race: Emergency personnel tend to the soldier after he was shot at the National Memorial just before 10am

Terror: Police hunted the streets for more suspects and as they asked the public to stay away from the area

In a statement he paid tribute to his fallen colleague.

'I am very touched by the attention directed at me following yesterday’s events. However, I have the support of a remarkable security team that is committed to ensuring the safety of Members, employees and visitors to the Hill,' he said.

'On behalf of all members of the House of Commons Security Services team, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. Our prayers are with you. Our thoughts are also with Constable Samearn Son, who has been with the House of Commons Security Services for 10 years. Constable Son suffered a gun shot wound to the leg. He is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery.'