Tiny Puppy Gives His Dove Friend Piggyback Rides Around The House

They have their own special way to play 💗

Last summer, Sue Rogers got a call asking if she could take in an abandoned baby bird. A construction crew had found a nest while working on a parking ramp and, after they moved it, the mother never returned.

Rogers, the founder of The Mia Foundation, agreed to take in the little orphaned mourning dove. She thought the dove, whom she named Lovey, would only be with her for a few weeks until the little bird learned to eat and fly. But whenever Rogers tried to release Lovey back into the wild, she would find the bird back on her deck a few hours later.

Lovey the mourning dove as a newly hatched chick
Lovey as a newly hatched chick | Sue Rogers

As fall approached, Rogers moved Lovey back inside the house to protect her from the cold. Lovey has free rein of Rogers' home and can fly wherever she pleases. But she never seemed interested in the other animals there — until a tiny puppy named Alfie showed up.

“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.”

As Alfie grew stronger under Rogers' care, he became adventurous — but weighing only 15 ounces, he’s just too small to play with any of the other dogs in the house.

“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.”

Perhaps Lovey recognized another little orphan in need of a friend because the bird quickly took a liking to Alfie.

Lovey dove meets tiny puppy for the first time
Sue Rogers

“Lovey is out flying around the house all day long, and I just noticed that every time I put the puppy down, she would immediately fly over to him,” Rogers said. “It’s like, ‘Does she think he’s another bird?’ Because he’s about the same size as her, they’re the same color and she doesn’t interact like that with any of the other dogs in the house.”

The two have now developed their own special language and unique play style.

Lovey enjoys hopping on Alfie for piggyback rides or following him around the house, hooting softly and pecking at his fur. "They are the smallest animals here, each needing a friend," Rogers wrote on Facebook. "They’ve formed this bond on their own!"

Alfie seems grateful for the company and Rogers couldn't be happier to watch this adorable friendship blossom between the two smallest animals in her house.

When the weather warms up, Rogers plans to try to release Lovey in hopes that she’ll find a flock of her own. But, until then, Alfie and Lovey are all each other need right now.

To help other special needs dogs like Alfie, you can make a donation to The Mia Foundation.