Kelly Ripa Admits Her Dog Lena Has “Trained” Her To “Get Down On Her Hands and Knees” and “Put the Other Side” of a Pizza Toy In Her Mouth

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos proved just how close they are with their dog Lena on Thursday’s Live with Kelly and Mark.

Consuelos was intrigued by a news item during this morning’s episode suggesting a way to become “closer” to your canine.

“‘You want a closer bond to your dog?’” he read. “I do.”

Ripa quipped, “How closer can you two get?”

Consuelos continued reading the article, which mentioned a study that suggested dog owners should “play more” with their pups. The co-hosts confirmed that they “always play” with their dog Lena, but Ripa was reminded of their late dog, Chewie, who she said “Chewie wasn’t a dog who played so much.”

Consuelos agreed, “She tolerated us.”

Ripa elaborated, “But I wonder if it’s because when Chewie was young, I had three little kids. So I was, like, busy with them, and when she would need my attention, I did not give her the attention that she deserved. You know what I mean? She didn’t get the same amount of attention as the kids. Like, she was always there.”

However, Consuelos pointed out that “even as she got older,” Chewie would “go chase things” every now and then, teasing that she would play “tug the rope” with “the few teeth she had left.”

“She always seemed a little scary when she wanted to play,” he recalled with a chuckle, as he imitated Chewie’s wide-eyed stare.

After Ripa agreed that Chewie took “more of an aggressive” approach, Consuelos added, “So I [was] kind of like, ‘Are we playing? Or are you about to pop off?’ What’s happening here?”

Ripa reiterated that their dog Lena is “a play dog,” and “knows the name of her different toys.”

“I’ll be like, ‘Go get your pizza,’ and she goes and gets the pizza, and she brings it to me,” she explained. “But now she’s trained me to get down on my hands and knees and put the other side of the pizza in my mouth… Like, I’m no longer using my hands. We all have paws.”

Consuelos asked, “Does she love that?”

Ripa confirmed as much, claiming that “it’s her favorite thing.”

While Consuelos said he “want[s] to see that,” he told Live that he “love[s] the zoomies.”

“They make me so excited,” he teased.

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.