Ryan Seacrest says his dog Georgia has been “practice for fatherhood.”
Ryan Seacrest is a busy guy, but he’s got his Labrador Retriever Georgia to keep him company and help him relax.
On his NBC morning show Live with Kelly and Ryan on Thursday, July 9, Seacrest revealed how he acquired Georgia. (Here at Dog O’Day, we learned of it through People Magazine‘s story.)
American Idol was nearing the end of its initial run on Fox in 2014, and Seacrest often hung out with series creator/producer Simon Fuller, who raised Labrador Retrievers.
At one point they were watching TV, and Seacrest was playing with the dogs on the floor while Fuller watched.
“Then, a couple of weeks later, a knock on the door and a little tiny, black, beautiful, cute puppy Lab shows up,” Seacrest said.
There was also a note that read in part, “This is your first step toward daddyhood,” since he had never had a dog of his own before.
Ryan Seacrest’s dog made her television debut not long afterward on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which fit, as Ellen herself is a former Idol judge. (That season was a mistake, but it isn’t relevant to this story.)
Georgia often appears on Seacrest’s Instagram as they live their star-studded lives.
Besides hosting American Idol for the entirety of its 18-season run and counting, Seacrest also hosts the syndicated radio show American Top 40, and began his work in radio while in high school in the Atlanta area.
He briefly attended the University of Georgia before moving to Los Angeles, where his career began by hosting various game shows throughout the 1990s.
While Georgia’s name isn’t exactly the most creative dog name we’ve ever heard, it’s a nice throwback to his roots, which is an important thing to remember.
And he’s in good company; pet parents often use their dogs and cats as practice for human children, which can include spending A LOT on them.