Photo: Courtney Payton
Like father, like dog!
Kevin Loverecently chatted with PEOPLE about partnering withMilk-Boneto celebrate the dog treat brand’s newbirthday cake flavored biscuitsand how his dog Vestry, a 3-year-old Hungarian Vizsla, takes after him and shares an interest in his favorite sport.
“She loves basketball,” Love, 33 — who plays in theNBAfor theCleveland Cavaliers— tells PEOPLE exclusively of his beloved canine companion.
Noting that Vestry will “play keep away” and hog a basketball as her own, Love notes, “It worked out. She just loves, loves, loves basketball.”
“She’s just endless comedy as well. She does things that are so human-like,” he adds. “[My fiancée,Kate Bock, and I] will just look at her, like, ‘That’s a 35 lb. human in dog form.’ "
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Courtney Payton
Vestry was born in October 2021 and went home with Love and Bock, 34, n December when she was eight weeks old.
Since then, Love says that every moment spent with his dog has been a moment like no other. “I mean, I grew up with dogs … [but] this is my first time having a dog personally,” he explains. “So I think the biggest thing that I get out of it is just, I give her so much love, and she returns it tenfold.”
Kevin Love/Instagram
“[Dogs] have such a keen sense and awareness of how you’re feeling, and non-verbal cues. If I’m having a bad day or I’m feelingsome sort of anxiety, she knows,” Love continues. “It’s a crazy, crazy thing.”
“After you’re around a dog enough and give it the attention it deserves and needs, it’ll know when you’re going through stuff. And I never ever thought that was even a possibility,” he adds. “So it is a really special bond, and she does the same thing for Kate.”
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Love and Bock’s admiration for their dog runs so deep that they even created anInstagram accountfor their animal friend.
Coming up with the social media page, Love explains, was all Bock’s idea. “Kate started the Instagram,” he tells PEOPLE, as Bock — who he is set to wed this summer — adds, “It was just to share pictures of the dog between us, and then she gained her own following.”
“If I’m on the road or something and I want to look at photos, I’ll just kind of scroll through that,” Love details. “And it’s perfect because she keeps adding new photos or old photos that either I forgot about or I haven’t seen yet. So it’s perfect for me, especially when I’m traveling half the season.”
Currently, Vestry’s Instagram account has over 28,000 followers and follows 11 accounts, including Love and Bock, other dog pages, andQueer Eye’sAntoni Porowski, among others.
Love’s new partnership with Milk-Bone was a no-brainer for the NBA star, who has been using products from the company for some time now.
“Milk-Bone celebrates their dogs, and Vestry loves their birthday cake biscuits. She just loves Milk-Bone in general,” he tells PEOPLE.
Alongside launching its new biscuits, Milk-Bone is running a sweepstake through its newMilk-Bone Birthday Club, which offers to make dog birthdays — or gotcha days — even more exciting.
“[Vestry] is the ultimate velcro dog, ultimate lover. So anytime that we can love them up, it’s amazing,” Love notes. “With myself and Milk-Bone, we celebrate dogs, and that’s what we’re here doing.”
Milk-Bone’s birthday cake artificially flavored biscuits are available to purchase in-store andonline.
source: people.com
