Get well soon! Neil Patrick Harris’ dog Spike has suffered an injury and the How I Met Your Mother alum is hopeful for an easy recovery.
“Spike broke his toe,” the Series of Unfortunate Events star, 48, explained in a Friday, January 14, Instagram video. “He’s in a little cast for four weeks. I’m sorry, I hope it doesn’t snow.”
In his social media video, Harris planted a series of kisses on the French bulldog, exclaiming, “You’re like a French horn, a French bulldog horn!”
He also captioned his post, “Poor Spike..!” Spike, for his part, sported a yellow cast with illustrated bones over his leg and paw. The cast was even signed by the actor’s twin children, who wrote sweet messages to urge the animal to feel better.
The Matrix Resurrections star and his husband, David Burtka, share twins Harper and Gideon, both 11. Their growing family has three dogs: Spike, Gidget and Ella. Burtka, 46, even paid tribute to the canine companions while picking out his spouse’s Christmas present late last year.
“Awesome gift this year: replica stuffed versions of our dogs,” Harris shared snaps of the three stuffed animals via Instagram in December 2021. “Bravo @cuddleclones for nailing Gidget, Spike and Ella’s likenesses. Swipe to see their actual visages. Swipe quickly back and forth for a chuckle… (thanks @dbelicious for being so gift smart!)”
While Spike and Gidget have been members of the Burtka-Harris brood for several years, Ella was the latest pup to join the family amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Oh Santa, what have you done?? On Christmas morning, @dbelicious and I watched Gideon and Harper open a box filled with… a golden retriever puppy. Her name is Ella, and she has pretty much taken over our lives,” the former child star announced the dog’s arrival via a December 2020 Instagram post. “She’s curious, clumsy, and sublime. Except for when she’s peeing everywhere. Or gnawing on everything. Which is always. Methinks we need some training. But first, I must go cuddle. Thanks, Santa. You rule.”
With all three of the New York-based family’s dogs, they deliberately chose names with special meanings.
“Ella is short for Eleanor which is David’s grandmother’s name,” Harris told PureWow in February 2021. “We tried to come up with a name that would be easy for the dogs to understand. We already have a Gidget, which is a lot of tongue action. We have a Spike which is a strong single syllable and we wanted to come up with a feminine name that was easy to understand for them. So, Eleanor became Ella and it’s good — it’s easy to say.”
The Gone Girl star further gushed about the puppy’s training at the time: “David said this, and I kind of agree, having three dogs is almost easier than two because when they’re being rambunctious they usually have an additional playmate. I don’t envy the corners of our furniture because they are slowly getting chewed down to nonexistence but we are slowly pivoting to a chew toy. We’re also stocking up on floor cleaner because that dog will pee right in front of you. You’ll take this girl outside and she’ll go and then five minutes later she’ll do it again right in front of you. I don’t know if she’s learned that yet but she’s so cute I can’t admonish her. Can’t get mad at this cute little angel dog.”
