Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave Gets Emotional While Opening Up About Her Dog's Recent Death
Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave is sharing emotional new details about the recent death of her dog, Khaleesi.
A few weeks after the family’s beloved dog died while they were out of town, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star spoke about grief on the most recent episode of her podcast, Teddi Tea Pod with Teddi Mellencamp.
Mellencamp Arroyave, 38, began the episode by tearfully opening up about the circumstances surrounding Khaleesi’s death.
“Maybe it was, like, two weeks ago, my husband, kids and I were heading to Orange County for my stepdaughter’s birthday party,” she began. “And you know, we have a dog, and we were thinking, ‘What’s the best thing for the dog? Probably not to ride in the car with us, you know, an hour and a half in traffic, try to figure out what to do with her during the party.’ “
The reality explained that her family — which includes husband Edwin Arroyave, their two children Cruz, 5, and Slate, 7, and Edwin’s daughter Isabella, 11 — decided to bring Khaleesi to a doggy daycare center while they were away.
A post shared by Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave (@teddimellencamp) on Dec 10, 2019 at 5:30am PST
“She had been to this doggy daycare place before … The kids and I pack her up, drop her off,” Mellencamp Arroyave continued. “We see the people there, we see the other little doggies. They’re not locked up in crates. It’s safe. You know, we think everything’s great.”
Later, Mellencamp Arroyave said she got a “hysterical phone call” from the owner of the daycare facility.
“I can’t even make out what she’s saying, but I know it’s her phone number,” she said. “I can hear that she’s saying, ‘I’m at the vet.’ So I say, ‘Can you please put the vet on?’ I talk to the vet, and they say that Khaleesi’s not breathing, she’s going to need to go on life support, and they don’t know what happened to her.”
A post shared by Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave (@teddimellencamp) on Dec 2, 2019 at 8:04am PST
“So many things happen when you’re in that moment,” the reality star continued, through tears. “Like, the first thing is, ‘Holy crap, we’re walking into my stepdaughter’s birthday party, and I’m about to have to fake this right now.’ Number two: Is your dog going to make it? Number three was, this is all my fault. I never should have dropped her off at this place. I should have figured something else out. Number four: What am I going to tell my kids?”
The mother said she “figured out how to numb” herself throughout her stepdaughter’s birthday party while she waited for more information.
When she asked if she could go visit Khaleesi at the vet, “They said, ‘There’s no point. You can’t touch her. You can’t talk to her. She’s … on life support,’ ” Mellencamp Arroyave said. “There’s nothing you can do, and she’s not responsive. She won’t hear you. She won’t know that you’re there.’ So then, I just had to wait. And then, at three in the morning, the vet called, and they said, ‘Yeah, she passed.’ ”
“Long story short: What they think happened is she either had brain or spinal injury from a fall, and she passed away,” Mellencamp Arroyave explained, audibly crying.
The RHOBH star revealed the news of her dog’s death in an Instagram post last week, writing, “RIP to our loving, silly and adorable doggy Khaleesi. Our hearts are broken as we have had to say goodbye to you way too soon.”
“Without going too into it– we were out of town and placed Khaleesi in a place of care where an accident happened,” she continued. “Sometimes things happen out of your control; we are doing our best to grieve as a family while also remembering the good times with our furry baby. We love you and miss you dearly. 😢💕
A post shared by Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave (@teddimellencamp) on Apr 6, 2019 at 5:48pm PDT
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The fitness guru, who is currently expecting her third child, a baby girl, has often posted photos of her children posing with the fluffy pup, who was clearly a beloved fixture in all of their lives.
“Not a Game of Thrones spoiler— but Khaleesi is definitely the queen of our kingdom,” Teddi wrote back in April along with a photo of the family’s daughters holding their beloved pet. The dog’s name is a reference to Emilia Clarke‘s Game of Thrones character, Daenerys Targaryen.
