Jesse Tyler Ferguson is sharing new insight into how his family dealt with a recent loss.
Back in February, the Modern Family alum revealed via Instagram that his dog, Leaf, had passed away. “We had to say goodbye to our sweet little prince Leaf today,” he wrote alongside photos of Leaf with himself and his family over the years on February 9. “He was the best little pup & has been with us since the very beginning — 15 incredible years together. Our first. We love you and will miss your licks, snuggles & barks, sweet guy.”
Ferguson opened up about saying goodbye to his beloved pet on the Tuesday, March 31, episode of his Dinner’s On Me podcast. While chatting with his guest, Jenna Dewan, Ferguson shared that he and his family had to put Leaf down earlier that day.
“I had to put my dog down today, and it wasn’t a surprise, though,” he said of Leaf, who was 15. “We sort of have thought this might be the case for a while. I’m leaving town [at] the end of the week to do a play in New York, and I was having such anxiety about being away when it might have to happen. And, in the last few days, he just, like, took a turn.”
Ferguson said the “bright lining” of the sad situation was that he got to be with Leaf on his last day. “I was really, really happy I could,” he stated.
Dewan, for her part, said she has “dealt with multiple versions of having to put my dog down” in the past. “There’s no good way it happens. However, I did this with my recent dog we had to put down, Mika. She was 18 and also small, and it was right before the birth of my last baby, Rhiannon,” she shared. “And it was the same thing. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. How am I going to do this and [give] birth,’ and it just happened. She woke one morning, [and] I was like, ‘Oh, this is the end.’ I know that feeling. It’s so hard.” (Dewan shares her eldest daughter, Everly, with her ex-husband, Channing Tatum, and her younger two kids, Callum and Rhiannon, with her fiancé, Steve Kazee.)
Ferguson went on to note that he has been “struggling” with how to talk about Leaf’s declining health with his children. He shares his two sons, Beckett and Sullivan, with his husband, Justin Mikita.
“I know there’s some good books. I mean, we’ve read some of them in preparation. But this morning, knowing that this afternoon we were gonna put Leaf, we told Beckett, our 5-and-a-half-year-old, because we felt like — ’cause he lost my mom,” Ferguson detailed. “We lost my mom a little over a year ago, so he was able to process, like, what it means when someone just is no longer here.”
While Ferguson said his youngest child “doesn’t really understand” Leaf’s passing just yet, he told Dewan that Beckett “was able to say goodbye” but “got very emotional.”
At the time Ferguson announced Leaf’s death via Instagram, several celebrities offered their condolences in the post’s comments. “I loved Leaf the most! So sorry,” Dan Levy wrote, while Elizabeth Banks posted, “So so sorry for this loss.” Busy Philipps shared, “Oh, sending you all love.”
Rhea Seehorn shared, “Oh, no. So, so sorry. Love to you guys.” Rachel Dratch and Carrie Preston each wrote that they were “so sorry” for Ferguson and his family.
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