Tiny Puppy Gives His Dove Friend Piggyback Rides Around The House

Sue Rogers received a call last summer asking if she could care for an orphaned bird. After a parking ramp construction crew discovered a nest, the mother bird never returned.

This little orphaned mourning dove was taken in by The Mia Foundation founder Rogers. That’s how long Lovey was expected to stay with her until she was able to feed and fly on her own. Despite Rogers’ best efforts, the bird would always return to her deck hours after she attempted to release it into the wild.

Lovey as a newly hatched chick | SUE ROGERS

Rogers put Lovey back inside the house as fall approached in order to keep her warm. In Rogers’ house, Lovey has complete freedom and can fly wherever she wants. It wasn’t until Alfie arrived that she seemed to care about the other animals.

“Alfie is 8 weeks old, but he’s the size of a newborn,” Rogers told The Dodo. “He has a cleft palate, I’m 99 percent sure he has hydrocephalus (which is water on the brain), and possibly a heart condition as well.”

Because he is just 15 pounds, Alfie is unable to play with any of the other dogs in the home because of his small size.

“He needed to start to get socialized, so I let him run around the house a little bit, supervised, throughout the day,” Rogers said. “But he has to be watched very carefully.”

Because the bird instantly took a fancy to Alfie, it’s possible that Lovey saw another small orphan in need of a buddy.

SUE ROGERS

“Lovey is out flying about the house all day, and I simply saw that every time I set the puppy down, she flew up to him,” Rogers explained. “It’s as though she’s wondering, ‘Does she think he’s another bird?'” Because he’s almost the same size as she is, they’re the same color, and she doesn’t interact in this manner with any of the other dogs in the home.”

As a result, the two have evolved their own special language and manner of play.

If you give Alfie a piggyback ride, you’ll hear Lovey hooting and pecking at his fur as he walks around the house. Rogers stated on FB, “They are the smallest creatures here, each requiring a friend.” “On their own, they’ve developed this friendship!”

Alfie seemed to appreciate the company, and Rogers is overjoyed to see this lovely friendship bloom between the two smallest animals in her home.

When the weather heats up, Rogers intends to try to release Lovey in the hopes that she will find her own flock. But, for the time being, Alfie and Lovey are all they need.