NEWS'We Never Did This With Our Kids': Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Admit They Say Bye to Their Dog Lena Every Time They Leave the House
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos admitted their dog, Lena, gets special treatment.
Sept. 4 2026, Published 4:26 p.m. ET
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos share three children, but when it comes to leaving the house, there is one member of their family who gets extra attention: their dog, Lena.
On a recent episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, the longtime couple admitted they make a point of saying goodbye to Lena every time they leave their home, which is something they never even did with their own kids.
'We Both Say Goodbye to Lena'
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos admitted they say goodbye to their dog before leaving the house.
"People who always say goodbye to the pets before leaving the house have these seven traits," Consuelos began.
Ripa replied, "Okay."
The Riverdale alum went on, "I think we both say goodbye to Lena when we..."
'We Never Did This With Our Kids'
Kelly Ripa added that they also let Lena know where they are going.
"Oh, my God," Ripa interjected. "We not only say goodbye, we also fill her in on where we're going, what's happening."
"Like, in a way, like, we never did this with our kids," the Hope & Faith actress confessed.
Consuelos doubled down, saying, "No."
The conversation continued with the pair revealing that the seven traits are: Highly empathetic, emotionally expressive, strongly attached and loyal, conscientious, sensitive to others’ emotions, nurturing/caring and lastly, they view pets as family members, which is most certainly true for the pair.
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Social Media Users Related to Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos
One person confessed they also give their dog 'an estimated time' they will be back home.
A clip of the interaction has since been reposted online, with many social media users admitting they follow the same ritual.
"I give my dog an estimated time I should arrive home too as if she can read the clock lol," said one person.
Another wrote, "I always say goodbye and assure her I’ll be back in a bit. Sometimes I sum up my mission, 'going to get us some money girl.'"
"I always say goodbye, be a good boy and make good decisions to my dog," commented a third.
'To Make Sure I Could Be With Lena Every Day'
Mark Consuelos said he would 'stay in a loveless marriage' to be with Lena.
Three weeks ago, Ripa and Consuelos talked about Lena, with the dad-of-three confessing just how far he would go for her.
"I mean, listen. Let’s just put it this way. I would stay in a loveless marriage just to make sure I could be with Lena every day. That’s how much I love Lena," Consuelos confessed.
The pair had been talking about a new bill Pennsylvania introduced that proposes "new rules about shared schedule, custody arrangements, and divisions of costs associated with the pet" when pet parents get divorced.
Ripa noted the legislation seeks to treat pet custody cases more similarly to child custody cases.
Consuelos went on to add that if he and Ripa ever got divorced, he would "stay up at night, wondering what [Lena] is doing."
The longtime talk show host teased her husband that he’d be "just wondering if there was some other man petting her."
