The “Modern Family” star opened up about the loss on his “Dinner’s On Me” show with Jenna Dewan.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson had to put his dog down the same day he recorded latest podcast

The "Modern Family" star opened up about the loss on his "Dinner's On Me" show with Jenna Dewan.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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March 31, 2026 4:58 p.m. ET

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Jesse Tyler Ferguson on the 'Tonight Show'. Credit:

Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is opening up about losing a member of his family.

The *Modern Family* alum began the latest episode of his podcast, *Dinner's On Me*, by telling his guest, *The Rookie* star Jenna Dewan, that earlier in the day he had to put down his dog, Leaf, just before recording.

"It wasn't a surprise though," Ferguson said of his 15-year-old Yorkie. "We 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 took a turn, and I was like, well, the one bright lining is that I get to be here to say goodbye. And I was really happy I could."

Dewan assured him that "there's no good way it happens," recalling how she previously lost her dog as she was preparing to give birth. "The hardest part is that we are saying goodbye to someone we love," she told Ferguson.

Ferguson, holding his dog Leaf.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson/Instagram

Last month, Ferguson and his husband Justin Mikita announced the loss of Leaf on social media. "He was the best little pup & has been with us since the very beginning — 15 incredible years together," the actor wrote. "We love you and we will miss your licks, snuggles & barks, sweet guy."

Ferguson and Dewan went on to discuss their struggle in sharing the news with their children. "My younger one, who's 3, doesn't really understand yet, but we told Beckett, [who is 5], and he was able to say goodbye, and he got very, very emotional," he said. "Around life and death stuff, I think being truthful is the only way to go."

Listen to the full episode of *Dinner's On Me* here.

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