If you’re ever in New York City, you should try to get one from Louboutina, a friendly golden retriever who’s famous for her warm embraces and firm handshakes, and a rising star on social media.
Maybe you’ve even seen her in action: posing with strangers on the city streets, her paws wrapped around their legs and a big furry smile on her face.
“She’s just a love bug,” Louboutina’s owner Cesar Fernandez-Chavez told TODAY. “She loves people and she likes to please people.”
He’s had Louboutina for about five years, since she was a puppy. She was a gift from a friend with a penchant for Christian Louboutin’s iconic red-soled shoes, hence her name, Fernandez-Chavez said.
But she wasn’t always a hugger. She started standing on two legs first, about two and a half years ago.
“We were walking and she stopped and started shaking [my hand] and she put a lot of strength on the grip and I held her paw and then suddenly she sat up,” Fernandez-Chavez said. “I was like, OK, this is weird, but I let her do that and she was there for a good two minutes before she went down.”
The pause-and-stand became routine, and Louboutina started to do it every time they walked. Then she progressed to hugs, perhaps mimicking her owner.
Today the Golden Retriever spends around 2 hours a day hugging people she meets on her walk
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