Louboutina is a pup that’s on a mission to spread love through the world. This sweet dog has become famous for hugging the people she meets on her daily walks through Manhattan.
Five-year-old Louboutina has lived with her owner Cesar Fernandez-Chavez since she was a puppy. In 2014, she surprised Fernandez-Chavez by sitting up on her hind legs and grabbing his hands.
“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 told Today. “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.”
A couple years after that, Louboutina graduated from hand-holding to hugging. Fernandez-Chavez was surprised at first.
“Instead of asking me to do the holding hands thing, she just sat up, very close to my legs, and she’d wrap her legs around my knees,” he told The Dodo. “I thought, ‘This is weird. What’s going on?’ But I let her do it.”
Soon after that, Louboutina started hugging other people that she met on her walks. At first, she just hugged neighbors that she knew. But eventually, she started hugging random people who came up to her on the street.
Louboutina and Fernandez-Chavez live in the busy Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan, where there are plenty of opportunities for Louboutina to give out her famed hugs. But she doesn’t just hug anyone—she needs to make a connection first.
“Sometimes people run up and ask for a hug, but I tell them, ‘I don’t think it’s going to happen,’ because she has to bond with that person first,” Fernandez-Chavez told The Dodo. “But when she sits next to someone, then I say, ‘You’re probably going to get a hug.'”
Many news outlets picked up the story of Louboutina and her hugs, and she has now become a social media star. She has an Instagram page with hundreds of thousands of followers. She has also been featured on the popular Twitter and Instagram account The Dogist.
Louboutina, Golden Retriever (5 y/o),5th Ave., NYC • “She started holding hands and hugging out of the blue.” pic.twitter.com/xtqgWklTWZ
— The Dogist (@thedogist) April 10, 2017
Now, people often take photos of Fernandez-Chavez and Louboutina when they’re walking through their neighborhood. But neither of them mind the attention. Louboutina loves getting to meet new people, and Fernandez-Chavez is happy that he and his pup are bringing people joy.
Louboutina is a pup who knows how great a hug can make someone feel when they’re stressed or having a bad day. This sweet dog is doing an amazing job at spreading happiness. If you want to see more photos of Louboutina giving out her hugs, check out her Instagram page.
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