The longtime weatherman's pet dog, Pepper, gave him and wife Deborah Roberts 'quite a scare.'
Al Roker is taking his dog's health seriously.
On Monday, Roker was absent from the Today show as his beloved dog, Pepper, recovers from emergency surgery.
The longtime weatherman's colleague, Dylan Dreyer, filled in for both of NBC's morning show broadcasts.
Roker, 69, and his wife, journalist Deborah Roberts, 63, had quite the pet health scare.
On Sunday, Roker updated his nearly 1 million followers of Pepper's health on Instagram. He shared pictures of him and his wife with their pooch in the animal hospital. In the photos, Pepper wore a protective cone around her head with an IV drip in her paw.
"Our little girl, Pepper, had emergency surgery but is on the mend," he wrote. "She's getting great care and is coming home tomorrow. Woof. You can sleep on our bed as much as you want."
The pair can be seen comforting their furry family member, with Roberts giving Pepper a big hug in the last picture.
Roberts also took to Instagram to express her gratitude that Pepper is OK.
"Gratitude. My heart is bursting with it today," Roberts captioned the post. "Our littlest girl, Pepper, gave us quite a scare. She has survived an emergency surgery. But thankfully, Our strong girl is recovering. We are grateful for any and all prayers for our sweet doggie who has stolen our hearts for 12 years now. #grateful #heart ❤️🩹 #doggie #love."
In the comments, family and friends of the couple sent doggie prayers and well wishes.
But Roker and Roberts don't only have a fur baby to worry about. The couple became grandparents when their daughter, Courtney, and son-in-law, Wes, welcomed a baby girl in July.
"I'm doing great, doing great," Roker told ET. "I tell you, the thing that's kept me going is I've had a new granddaughter."
Roker said the arrival of his first grandchild, Sky, has enriched his life.
"You could love up on 'em and then you give them back... If I had known they were this much fun I would've had them first," he said. "It's the best."
Roker and Roberts are both due to give the commencement address at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.
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