Cesar Fernandez-Chavez regularly takes his dog, Louboutina, on walks around Manhattan. However, this little pup, who goes by the nickname, Loubie, has a unique habit for making friends. This incredibly friendly dog always wants to stop to greet strangers, and when they stop to pet her, Loubie loves to hug them by wrapping her forelegs around their knees.
As Fernandez-Chavez said to The Dodo, “It’s just not a regular walk. It’s a walk with hugging. So we don’t get to go too far.”
Fernandez-Chavez doesn’t know where she got it from as he never taught her how to do it. However, it’s cute all the same that Loubie taught herself to hug people this way.
Prior to Loubie wanting to give out hugs to people, she wanted to hold hands. That particular hand-holding tradition began way back around Valentine’s Day in 2014, just after Fernandez-Chavez got out of a long-term relationship.
As Fernandez-Chavez explained, “She started sitting up and grabbing my hands with both of her paws, and then crossing the other paw over her paw. I remember joking with my friends, ‘At least I have someone to hold hands with during Valentine’s.'”
It soon became Loubie’s favorite activity, and she quickly began seeking it handholding attention whenever she went out hit the streets of New York.
“From then on, every walk, she wanted to hold hands,” Fernandez-Chavez commented. “She would just sit up and cross her paw over the other, and look around like a lady. People passing by were like, ‘Oh my god, she’s so cute.'”
A couple years later her affection demonstration leveled up when she began to give out hugs.
Fernandez-Chavez said, “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. I thought, ‘This is weird. What’s going on?’ But I let her do it.”
And from there her habit of hugging continued. In fact, it only got stronger.
“She gets a very good grip, depending on where I’m standing. I have to make sure that I’m keeping well-balanced,” Fernandez-Chavez said.
Loubie soon began to extend her hugs towards others. She clearly enjoys making friends and spreading the love – which is why dogs are just the best.
“We’d run into neighbors that she knew, and instead of just leaning on them, she started hugging them, and then random people who would come to us.”
Because Loubie loved to give out hugs, she got quite popular – even rising to the ranks of social media star!
“Pictures started coming up on the internet,” Fernandez-Chavez said.
Even though Loubie generously hugs others, she won’t hug just anyone. As Fernandez-Chavez revealed, this precious pooch will only hug those with whom she has a connection.
As he clarified, “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. But when she sits next to someone, then I say, ‘You’re probably going to get a hug.'”
It would seem that Loubie really loves to hug people, and people are equally as crazy about receiving her hugs.
“It’s nice to see people walk away with a smile. Especially with everything that is happening now, people say it’s so good to see this on the street. She’s bringing them joy. It’s very rewarding.”
For more of Loubie’s adorable hugging ways, follow her on Instagram.
