“My lap dog”: Sugar, a 44-year-old dove, lives the sweet life thanks to caring owner

Every morning at 9 a.m., 77-year-old Dewayne Orender (USA) takes the covers off the bird cage and wakes up his best friend, Sugar. 

As soon as the light passes through the metal bars, the angelic white dove will rustle awake, then expect his meal – which he picks apart before joining Dewayne on the couch. 

For the next few hours, they will watch their favourite TV programmes together – with Sugar tapping his feet to the music – then they will start their day, up to their usual adventures as man and bird. 

Over the last four decades, Dewayne and Sugar have been exceptionally close. Partially due to this wonderful connection, they have spent many more decades together than expected – as Sugar has more than doubled his life expectancy of 20 years. 

And throughout the pair’s highs and lows – spanning from hospital stays to music-making – they have always treated each other with care and compassion, contributing to this amazing bond. 

So on 4 September, Dewayne was thrilled when his incredible bird was awarded with the Guinness World Records title for the oldest living dove in captivity, at the age of 44 years and 72 days. He surpassed the previous record holder, Methuselah (Germany), by over 15 years.

“He seems very happy and content,” said Dewayne to GWR. “He loves me dearly – he and I are best friends.”

Read more stories about record-breaking pets in our dedicated Animals section!

Sugar when he was younger

Dewayne has taken care of Sugar ever since the tiny dove was born on 23 June 1981. 

A few years prior, he had made friends with a couple in Nashville, Tennessee, and the husband gifted Dewayne a male bird that he had used for one of his magic shows. Dewayne took the bird home and named it Luther, then got a female dove from the pet store named Gidget – and just a few weeks later, he found two small eggs in their cage. 

“I really didn’t think they’d hatch, but they did!” said Dewayne. “And one was Sugar.”

The other bird, a white dove named Goldie, was given away to a loving home, while Dewayne looked after his new little friend. 

And for a while, he continued to raise doves in his home (at one point having four cages with eight doves inside), until he decided to start gifting them to good people – including a gospel group, which took multiple birds.

In the 1990s, Sugar had a bonded mate named Rose, who Dewayne called “little white rose.” Unfortunately, she passed away from natural causes in 1996 – and for the last 15 years, the bird hasn’t coo-ed or sung once. 

Nevertheless, Sugar and Dewayne both love music – and whenever Sugar hears a tune, he taps his feet to the beat, to Dewayne’s delight.

“I’ve been in the music business for over 50 years, and he’s very much in love with music,” said Dewayne. “He’s even pictured on two of my music videos… You’ll see Sugar’s picture on his 40th birthday and again on the song ‘God’s Spotlight’, which I tell him he’s part writer because he inspired the song.”

The pair also enjoy watching TV together – particularly Good Morning America, Live with Kelly and Mark, and the Kelly Clarkson Show (as Sugar loves it when Kelly sings). Sugar will sit on Dewayne’s lap – hence the nickname ‘lap dog’ – or he will stare outside the window, watching the wild birds and imagining himself flying again. 

They also like watching cooking shows, because whenever a recipe calls for sugar, the sweet bird thinks that the hosts are talking to him!

“I tell him he’s a movie star, and I play it again until he stomps his feet,” joked Dewayne. 

Yet above all else, the one thing that Sugar cannot stand is when Dewayne leaves. 

One time, when Dewayne was in the hospital, the poor bird was so nervous that he hardly ate – but as soon as he got home, the tiny dove ate like a horse.

“I had to go back to Nashville a while back for a recording session… [and] I left Sugar with my mom (now deceased),” said Dewayne. “She called me at the session and said Sugar just lays on the floor of the cage and won’t get up. He was grieving for me! 

“When I got back from Nashville, once again he ate like he was making up for lost time.”

Over the years, the pair have shared many special birthday celebrations, and Dewayne is hopeful that his sweet bird will be around to reach 50. 

He promised that they’d celebrate with some special snacks, such as an extra piece of a whole wheat bagel and some blended popcorn – yet the most meaningful part of the day would undoubtedly be the fact that they got to share this milestone together. 

And we sincerely hope that they get to share many more years together, too. 

So congratulations, Dewayne and Sugar – you are both Officially Amazing!