Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave Opens up About Her Dog's Passing: "This Is All My Fault"
"I think that there's a lot to talk about here and none of us know how to process it," the RHOBH cast member said.
Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave opened up about her dog Khaleesi's recent sudden passing in an emotional episode of her podcast.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills accountability coach opened the December 10 episode of Teddi Tea Pod with Teddi Mellencamp by dedicating it to her late dog Khaleesi. "I think that there's a lot to talk about here and none of us know how to process it," she shared. "We loved her so very much, we still do."
Teddi then went on to share the story of what happened the day of her dog's passing. “Maybe it was, like, two weeks ago, my husband [Edwin Arroyave], kids [Slate and Cruz], and I were heading to Orange County for my stepdaughter’s [Bella] birthday party,” she said. “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.'"
Teddi suggested that Khaleesi "could have a fun playdate" at a doggy daycare facility she has been to before. "The kids and I pack her up, drop her off,” Teddi recalled. “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.”
But then around the time Teddi and her kids arrive at her stepdaughter's birthday party, she said she received "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. 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. So many things happen when you’re in that moment,” Teddi said through tears. “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 should have never dropped her off at this place. I should have figured something else out. Number four: What am I going to tell my kids?”
Teddi said that she thought the best thing for her to do in that moment was to put on a brave face while she waited for more updates on her dog. "So I figured out how to numb myself throughout the birthday party waiting for the vet to call, waiting for more information, tried to have the best time possible, praying, hoping she was gonna be OK, messaging the vet, messaging the woman, trying to figure out details. I can't get really any details," she shared. "Long story short: What they think happened is she either had a brain or spinal injury from a fall, and she passed away."
The vet had put Khaleesi on life support before she ultimately passed away at 3 o'clock in the morning. "We're in this stage now where my son sleeps in the same room as me and my husband, you know, the girls are in the room next door. I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'm gonna tell the kids," Teddi said. "I just start sobbing. My husband is looking at me. I'm also emotional, I'm 6-and-a-half months pregnant. I'm not trying to make this about me, but I really didn't know how to process this or even tell the kids."
Teddi immediately started doing research on how to go about telling children about a loved one or pet's passing. "So the next morning when the kids wake up, we told them, and they all had very different reactions. Slate immediately started crying, and she had anger. She was mad at the place," Teddi shared. "Bella was quiet, not really asking anything. And then Cruz was very, you know, he's too little. He almost make a joke. Well he was like, 'Well, you know Santa's got work to do.' It's just so crazy how kids process it differently."
The RHOBH family has been in the grieving process over the past couple of weeks. "So we spent the last week or so going through this, where sometimes we're crying, sometimes we're laughing, sometimes we're looking at pictures and remembering the good times," Teddi said. "And then sometimes, I'm just numbing it because I am doing so many things right now, and I don't want to bring my energy onto the kids or I also, you know, I realize that I'm having to go to work and do things like that, and I can't bring my sadness into it, but I also know I have to be vulnerable and grieve. But, you know what, I don't really know how."
Teddi sought the guidance of healing and loss expert David Kessler, and the two discussed going through the process of grieving during the podcast episode.
Teddi first shared the news of her dog's sudden passing in a post on Instagram on December 2. "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," she wrote. "Without going too into it-- we were out of town and placed Khaleesi in a place of care where an accident happened. 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."
She also shared that opening up about Khaleesi's passing on her podcast was a "cathartic" experience in a post on Instagram on December 10. "[Grief is] something each and every one of us will go through at some point in our lives," Teddi said. "And whether it’s a family pet, family member or friend, grief is never an easy thing to deal with."
