On this morning’s Live, Kelly brought up her concern for their senior dog, saying she had exhibited some concerning behaviors the previous day.
“Our dog Chewie, who is very, very old now, was really disoriented,” she told Mark and the audience, according to Decider.
Mark tried to reassure his wife and co-host that it was just normal age-related behavior: “She’s 17 years old, so she was just having a day.” But Kelly couldn’t get her mind off of it, stressing that Chewie had a “really bad day.”
“I’m concerned. Like, I don’t want to be here, like I feel like I need to get home.”
“She walked into a wall yesterday; she fell over,” she said. “It’s just one of those things, you know, when your dog starts to get old. It’s torture. It’s really torture. Because she can’t tell you.”
Kelly then said that her dog could communicate with her eyes: “She’s like, ‘Sigh. Can you believe this?’” she said, imitating her dog’s expressions. “I’m like, ‘I can’t!’”
Still trying to reassure her, Mark pointed out that after the disorienting incident, Chewie seemed to be doing well, noting that she “jumped up on the bed last night and was sleeping between us.”
“I’m just… a little bit distracted this morning because my brain is back home,” Ripa said.
Despite Kelly’s concerns about their old dog, they pressed on with the rest of the show as planned.
In addition to Chewie, Kelly and Mark are the owners of another dog, a Maltese/Shih Tzu named Lena, who they adopted after she was featured on a Live segment.
On March 23, Kelly shared a social media tribute to both of her dogs in honor of National Puppy Day:
Many pet owners have been in this situation — you have to go to work, but your mind is still at home with your pet We hope Chewie hangs in there!