‘Live’: Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos Argue Over Who Their Dog Loves More

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos both love their dog, Lena, unconditionally, but they disagree on which one of them Lena loves more.

The couple’s dog came up in conversation on the Tuesday, January 20, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, as Consuelos tried to make executive producer Michael Gelman envious of the new dog bowl he purchased for Lena. “This one tells me how many times they’ve been to the bowl and how much they’re drinking,” he stated, before joking that Gelman’s dog, Billie, is “neglected.”

Ripa hilariously retorted, “Billie’s neglected because Michael has a normal relationship with his dog? And you have what I would call a codependent relationship with your dog.” Consuelos agreed, stating, “Yeah, I do. Total codependent.”

Ripa went on to note that Lena is the “perfect size travel dog,” so much so that Consuelos carries her through security with just one arm. “Mark walks through the metal detector, and he walks through with the dog, every time, like this,” she said while mimicking her husband holding their dog.

“I’m a secure man,” Consuelos said. “That’s my dog. I love that dog.”

Despite Consuelos’ love for their pup, Ripa argued that “if you put Lena in a room, in between the two of us, and we both called her, she would come to me.” As Consuelos shook his head in disagreement, Gelman quipped, “We’re gonna have to do that on TV.”

@livekellyandmarkReunited with Lena after vacation 🥹🥹♬ original sound – Kelly and Mark

Ripa backed her statement with proof from Lena’s early days with their family. “She knows who took her home and adopted her, and she knows one of us fought like tooth and nail to prevent her from entering the home. Fought, fought me. He fought me,” she stated. “He was living in Vancouver, fortunately, so I was able to ignore him. I was like, ‘You don’t even live here.'”

Consuelos didn’t deny his hesitancy towards adopting Lena, but instead thanked his wife for changing his mind. “I’m so glad you didn’t listen to me,” he gushed. “She is amazing.”

The couple adopted Lena in 2021 after she appeared in a pet-themed segment on Live. “My whole fear was that I didn’t want [our other dog] Chewie to feel replaced in any way,” Ripa said on the show at the time. “So, we always make sure that we give Chewie the first attention.”

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She went on to encourage viewers who are looking to welcome a pet to “call your local animal shelter,” adding, “Those dogs are just dreams. They somehow know. They know, they’re aware, they look at you like, ‘I’m gonna make this easy for you. You work with me, I’ll work with you.'”

Last year, Ripa took to Instagram to reveal that Chewie had died at the age of 17. “We are so grateful for the almost 18 years we had with this special lady. She grew up with our kids and remained at our sides when each left the nest,” she wrote alongside photos and videos of Chewie from over the years. “She waited by the front door to welcome her siblings back home when they returned for visits. She was our stoic constant companion. We know she is running free now somewhere warm and sunny, unburdened by her failing body. We were the luckiest family to have loved and been loved by Chewie.”

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