Golden Retrievers are known to be the friendliest and most outgoing dog breed, and there is one who is quite famous for giving free hugs in the streets of New York!
Five-year-old Louboutina, also known as ‘Loubie,’ gives passersby free hugs since 2014. She unknowingly defies the New Yorker stereotype of being curt and always in a hurry. Whenever she stands in her favorite corner of 5th and 17 street, she is eager to get a hug from passersby. Likewise, many people who consider New York their home can’t resist to stop by and get a good embrace (and a photo) from this sweet pup.
Louboutin’s owner, Cesar Fernandez-Chavez, is a Spanish translator at a local hospital and is a United States resident for 16 years. Originally from Lima, Peru, Fernandez-Chavez wanted a canine to keep him company.
He received Louboutina as a birthday present from a friend named Daphne in December 2011. Loubie was three months old when he got her. As for her name, he remembered that Daphne wore a pair of Christian Louboutin heels when they first met. So when she told him about giving him a dog as a present, Fernandez-Chavez said he would name his dog after her designer shoes!
Before Louboutina learned how to hug, she started learning how to ‘holding hands’ with Fernandez-Chavez when she was three years old. She also learned how to stand on her hind legs around that time.
One day, as they walked the streets of their neighborhood in Chelsea, she paused and started to reach out her hand and shook his and felt that she put some force in it. He responded by holding her paw back, and then she sat up. He initially found it odd, but he let her do her thing before deciding to go down. Since then, she learned to hug her human by standing up on her hind legs while lifting her front paws to the sides.
He thought that Louboutina picked up on his gestures, growing up, since he is a hugger himself and shares that he used to kneel and hug her. Loubie would respond by putting her paw on his shoulder. He also quipped that despite being gay, he now has someone to hold hands with.
Louboutina’s hugging skills eventually moved to the streets whenever she and Fernandez-Chavez would walk around the Manhattan neighborhood, eagerly waiting for the next passerby to approach her. She has made friends with different strangers since then, and she enjoyed every minute of it.
Inevitably, Louboutina became famous among New Yorkers and eventually became a social media sensation. She has her very own Instagram accounts with 188,000 followers (and counting)! Also, she appeared on numerous television shows and she even got to kiss and hug celebrity, Gerard Butler!
A good, old hug would probably be the antidote in a world filled with worry and gloom. And if that hug would come from a four-legged friend who’s eager to stand on two legs, you might as well consider yourself lucky!
Watch the story behind Louboutina’s fame here:
Source: The Dodo via YouTube
