'This Is Us' actor Justin Hartley gushes about wife Chrishell Stause: 'I'm proud of my wife'

Justin Hartley doesn't mind that people are suddenly interested in his personal life following the breakout success of "This Is Us" last season. The actor, who recently married Chrishell Stause, opened up to AOL Entertainment about the respect that the show's fans give him when discussing more private matters.

"People are pretty respectful of the parts [of my life] that I like to keep private," Hartley explained. "But I'm proud of my relationship -- and I'm proud of my wife -- so I certainly don't mind talking about her. She's one of my favorite subjects."

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"People are always very supportive and nice," he continued. "I always say that it would be different if I were a politician maybe or an athlete, but people seem to really be putting their arms around this show and embracing it. I get nice people coming up to me saying nice things, so [the scrutiny] is not bad."

Clearly, Hartley has no problem handling the increased attention paid to his private life, and he's not letting it change his habits, either. When we asked if his two beloved dogs were at his wedding ceremony, the 40-year-old actor explained how being there would've disrupted the pooches' routines -- and could've resulted in disaster.

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"Here's the thing about these two little fur bags," Hartley explained with a laugh about Memphis and Gracie. "They're sweet and awesome, but they like to stick to a pattern. So, bringing them down the aisle probably would've resulted in them pooping all over the wedding."

Hartley told us that even though his beloved pets may act like humans, it's important to remember that they're actually, well, not human -- and he's partnering with Royal Canin this holiday season to remind fans of just that. During the holidays, dogs are at risk of gastrointestinal issues and Hartley is seeking to give the public tips on how to avoid such problems.

"My two dogs are different -- they can handle different foods and digest things differently," Hartley told us. "And they feel the stress of the holidays with people coming to visit, too. So even though you may be splurging and eating more, maybe it's not the best idea to pass that along to your animal, too. It can be hard to keep track of that responsibility and feed them your human food, but it's not worth the risk or the stress."

Another way that Hartley avoids stress is by following a beloved holiday tradition that his mother started when her children were born, which brings comfort, surprise and delight to his family each Christmas.

"Every year my mother gets each of us an ornament for that year and a letter explaining why she got that ornament for us," he revealed. "I have an ornament for each year that I've been alive, and she now gets my daughter one and will get my wife one, as well. We make it a tradition to decorate the tree with those ornaments, and every year it takes a little longer as we get older. We're gonna have to get a second tree for me soon."

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