WEST SENECA, N.Y. — Update: On Friday, Lovebird was put on hold.
A lovable giant at the SPCA Serving Erie County is still looking for a home.
Lovebird – an 80-pound cuddling, wannabe lap dog – is currently one of SPCA’s longer term resident.
“He is just the best dog. This is what you want your dog to do,” SPCA CEO Cait Daly said.
“He is also just really laid back. I wasn’t expecting this when I saw this big dog, just to see how gentle and just how sweet he is.”
Most dogs stay a couple weeks at the SPCA, but Lovebird has been at the SPCA for three months.
“What we think happened was that there were a lot of black and white dogs that came in at the same time, and Lovebird was just overlooked,” Daly said.
Lovebird does live up to his name – during our interview he, shared many kisses with staff. Even so, he was well mannered and gentle.
“Since, he has been here we know he is trained. He knows sit and he knows shake. He is potty trained, and he is very good with people.”
While he thinks of himself as somewhat of a lapdog, Lovebird is a big dog who will need a lot of exercise. He would do well with a family with a backyard and who like to take walks, according to SPCA staff.
“When he sees other dogs, he is pretty calm. He’s pretty good on a leash and he seems very laid back. We don’t know what breed he is, because we tend to not know, but we do know that he is 100% a very good boy,” Daly said.
People also tend to overlook black dogs as more people tend to not feel a connection right away. The SPCA finds that people can’t see their eyes and get the soulful feeling. This is true for cats as well.
To get to know him better in person, the SPCA has two programs available for most dogs that allows people to see them outside of the shelter.
The first is the doggies-day-out program, “Doggie Entourage.” With this program, a dog can go out for a couple of hours with a family for people to see if they would be a good fit for them.
The SPCA also offers a foster-to-adopt program, “If the Fur Fits,” that allows people to take an animal home for a longer period of time to see how they do in their home.
“I really recommend that you sit down with this guy, because he is so incredible,” Daly said.
To set up a time to meet with Lovebird or the other adoptable animals at the SPCA, head to their website.