Kelly Ripa is such a big dog lover that she holds regular pet adoption events on her morning talk show, Live with Kelly and Ryan. And it was through this segment of the show that she met her fur babies.

The 51-year-old TV host has two dogs, a Shih Tzu named Chewie and a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix named Lena. These canine cuties made an appearance with their mom in a recent Instagram post, which Ripa captioned, “One tired wolf pack. 🐶🐶🐶🤡” A third pup, whom she identified in the comments section as Lena’s best friend Ino, posed alongside them.

See the photo below, and keep scrolling for more pics of Chewie and Lina.

According to iheartdogs.com, the All My Children alum adopted Chewie after she came on the show looking for a forever home. She also explained how the pup got her name, saying, “We changed her name to Chewie because the boys thought she looked like Chewbacca, but she was a girl so we called her Chew-Becca.”

In May 2020, Ripa celebrated Chewie’s birthday with a post saying, “Happy Birthday Chewie! 91 human years young (we think) and still have most of your teeth! Atta girl 🐶🦷🎂”

For Chewie’s birthday this year, the actress paid tribute to her with an Instagram photo captioned, “Happy birthday to the grandest dame, CHEWIE! ♥️🎈🎂💐You wouldn’t know by the looks of it, but we sure are glad we found each other!”

The post got more than 50 thousand likes and lots of birthday wishes and comments, including one from Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos that revealed Chewie’s full name: “Chewbacca Maria Consuelos.”

In March 2021, the Consuelos family took in Lena, another dog that was featured on Live with Kelly and Ryan. Ripa made the announcement on the show, saying, “The Consueloses have made a decision to adopt Lena.”

She also explained how she got her name. “My kids want her to be named Leia, as in Princess Leia, because we have Chewie. I don't know. I need guidance.” However, they ended up with “Lena” because it was closer to her name at the shelter, which was Angelina.

When Ryan Seacrest asked if Lena and Chewie got along, Ripa said the two hit it off right away. She recalled that when she checked on Lena one night, she saw Chewie keeping her company. “Chewie was outside [Lena's] crate, sitting next to her with their noses together,” she said.