Fun

These Dogs Can’t Stop Hugging Each Other, And We Can’t Stop Watching

Written by: Katie Haller

December 17, 2015

This is Lottie. And by the end of this post, you’ll be as obsessed with this dog as I am.

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Here’s some backstory. Last week during an internet dog wormhole, I stumbled upon this vine:

It sourced back to Lottie The Collie’s Vine account and I was like, I NEED MORE INFORMATION. So naturally I Facebook stalked her mom, Taylor, and got to chat with her about Lottie, AKA, my future best dog friend. (Even though she doesn’t know that I exist yet.)

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Lottie lives in Ontario, Canada with her two brothers, Tino and Grizzly. You know that kid in high school who was naturally great at everything and was just so nice that even if you wanted to hate them for being so great you couldn’t? Lottie is the dog version of that.

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She is only two years old and she already has 275 tricks under her belt. NO BIG DEAL.

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She’s a master of agility:

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And gravity. Not completely convinced she’s not part bird to be honest. If not, she is the Michael Jordan of dogs.

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Her cutest trick, however, is hugging her bestie, Grizzly.

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Lottie’s mom Taylor says they actually wanted to get another Collie, but they saw Grizzly at a shelter and it was puppy ruv at first sight. He had been abandoned on the side of the road. But now he’s living the good life.

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While many dogs are skeptical when a new pup is brought into the family, Lottie embraced Grizzly with open paws from the minute he came in the door. Her mom Taylor told us “she treated him like her puppy.” And now the two of them are insepawrable.

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Obviously my first question was “How did they learn do do this?” It went in stages. One day, while they were practicing one of their tricks, Lottie put her arm on Grizzly when her mom told them to “sit pretty.”

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Then Lottie sort of awkwardly reached her paw for Grizzly.

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So for five minutes a day they practiced, gradually moving closer until the trick turned into the totally not-awkward and completely adorable magical hugging moment that it is now.

lottiegrizzlyhug

Obviously a dog like this can’t keep her tricks hidden in her back yard. By the time she was barely one year, she was already competing in the Canadian Pet Expo. It was her first time performing in front of a completely packed stadium of people and she wasn’t even phased.

She performed with the group Talent Hounds and ended up winning for the judge’s choice for day one of the competition, which isn’t too shabby considering they didn’t even realize they were competing.

lottieexpo

That is actually what I love about this puppy family. Even though I only spoke to her mom for a brief phone interview, it was obvious that the only thing she cares about is keeping her dogs happy.

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Some people spend hours choreographing their routines for performances like this, but Taylor said she just chooses a song that’s very fun and upbeat and they just kind of wing it. They feed off of each other’s energy and, rather than focusing on winning, their only goal is to have as much fun as they can possibly have together.

And trust me, Lottie knows how to party.

They practice tricks for about 15 minutes a day. Usually five minutes of new stuff and then 10 minutes of refreshers. But they don’t stick to a strict schedule. And that’s probably why Lottie loves it so much. It’s not her “homework” or something she associates with discipline. It’s her time to have fun and be her adorably silly self.

lottielaughing

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Written by: Katie Haller

December 17, 2015

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INNOVATIVE DOG STUFF, EVERY MONTH.

A themed collection of BARK-designed toys, treats, and chews.