Meet the Orioles’ dogs: The furry friends who bring joy

There are few ways the average individual can relate to a Major League Baseball player, but Coby Mayo aptly described how one human experience is the same no matter what your profession.

Your slide deck didn’t upload correctly? You dropped a coffee on your button-down shirt before a meeting? You struck out with bases loaded in the ninth inning?

“The dog doesn’t know I made an error. He doesn’t know I struck out four straight at-bats or whatever it was,” the Orioles infielder said this season. “My dog loves me, so it doesn’t matter what happens. He’s always going to be there for me.”

The unconditional love a dog has for their person is a source of inspiration for many. Bad day at work? Your dog isn’t worried about arbitrary performance goals (so long as their dinner comes on time).

With this in mind, The Banner went around the Orioles’ clubhouse and asked as many players as possible about their dogs. In a challenging season, which sees Baltimore looking up at postseason contention, the talk eases. A smile creeps onto these players’ faces.

So meet the Orioles — or, rather, their dogs.

Fin, Coby Mayo

Mayo described Fin, his golden retriever, as a “ball of energy.” The way Fin has loped into the Orioles’ clubhouse and run up to anyone capable of petting him is evidence of that.

Mayo and Ashtyn, his fiancée, picked up Fin right after the 2025 season ended. When they arrived at the house, there were a dozen or so puppies rolling around the playpen. Choosing was difficult, so they opted for the one initially sent in the picture.

“When we saw him, he was on his back in the playpen, biting the other dogs,” Mayo said. “We were like, ‘That’s the one we’ve got to get.’”

A year into his life with the Mayos, he still has a lot of energy. That burst of joy is everything to Mayo.

“I look forward to it every time we get home from a road trip,” Mayo said. “He brings a different type of joy to your everyday life, and at times it’s a lot having a dog and taking him out late at night, and all the stuff that comes with it, but it’s pretty awesome.”

Buckley, Tyler Wells

For years, Buckley called Baltimore home. Now the mini Bernedoodle is adapting to life in a new city, because the Wells family was traded from Baltimore to Tampa Bay ahead of the MLB deadline.

Prior to that trade, right-hander Tyler Wells said he could never envision his life without a dog.

His biological mom, before she died of cancer when Wells was young, was a veterinary technician. She rescued a Labrador retriever mix named Panama from the vet office around the time Wells was born. Panama lived until Wells was 16.

“He was the first dog I really got to know, and being able to have dogs around for us and how loyal they are, and if you raise them with love and care, they’ll do the same thing back,” Wells said. “Whenever you have a bad day, it’s very much like our daughter. You have a bad day, they’re just happy to see you. They don’t care what the day was like.”

Melissa and Tyler Wells see Buckley as a critical member of the family, right alongside their daughter, Ava Faye.

“There’s a lot of love for them, and the way they treat you and how loyal they are to you,” Wells said. “And there’s a lot of guilt with us being gone as much as we are. But it allows my wife to have a companion at home and our daughter loves him too.

“Every day, it’s the first thing she does: ‘Buba, Buba, Buba.’ It’s really cool to have the dog my wife and I got, to now, hopefully Ava gets to grow up with him for a long time.”

That’s a special bond, just as Wells had with Panama.

Aspen, Trevor Rogers

Trevor Rogers, a left-handed starter for the Orioles, owns Aspen, a cane corso.

“She’s got my heart, that’s for sure,” Rogers said.

Rogers’ in-laws have Aspen’s mother, and when she had a litter of three puppies, they decided to keep all the puppies in the family. Rogers and his wife received Aspen, and the arrangement works perfectly. When Rogers is on the road during the baseball season, Aspen stays with his mom and Rogers’ in-laws.

“She’s with the mom, and my brother-in-law lives right next door to the in-laws, so she’s with her brother,” Rogers said. “It’s a perfect setup, and they love her. I wish I could bring her up here and spend more time with her, but she’s a big dog and she’s in a good spot.”

In the offseason and during the All-Star break, Rogers mostly looks forward to spending as much time with Aspen as possible.

When he was asked how he’d describe Aspen’s personality, he joked, “How much time you got?”

“She is the most unique personality I’ve ever been around,” Rogers said. “Goofy. She is the most uncoordinated dog I’ve ever been around until she wants to hunt something, and then she flips a switch and she’s the most athletic dog I’ve ever seen. I think it’s the guard breed in her. I take her on the golf course on Mondays, and she sees a squirrel and she’s the most unathletic runner until she sees a squirrel.

“She’s a goofy personality and always wants your attention. There have been a couple times where, there’s a man-made pond on one of the holes, and she didn’t know how deep it was. She’s not the best swimmer. I ran over there, and there was no way of her climbing out. I pretty much had to pull her out. She was happy as can be right after. I just saved her life. It was a one-and-done for that. She doesn’t even go near the pond anymore. She’s the best dog I’ve ever had. I love that dog.”

Rex, Dylan Beavers

On Instagram, Orioles outfielder Dylan Beavers sometimes comments, “Do it for Rex.” Rex is his 2-year-old dachshund, “a little wiener dog” he got as a puppy.

“He has a ton of energy,” Beavers said. “He’s a little clingy, but he loves everyone. If any guests come into the house, he’ll pee on the floor. He gets so excited he starts to pee on the floor, so you’ve gotta clean it up. But he’s very energetic. He still acts like a puppy. And he’s very mischievous.”

How so?

“He’ll chew stuff up, for sure,” Beavers said. “Shoes, baseboards, pillows. He tore up my couch. You’ve got to keep a close eye on him. He likes to get into stuff, and he’s very curious.”

During the season, as Beavers flies around the country for baseball, his sister stays at his house in Florida while she goes to school. His sister watches mischievous little Rex during the season.

“He’s the best. I miss him,” said Beavers, who added that on Thursday’s off day in Tampa, Florida, he swung by his house to see his sister — and, perhaps most importantly, to see Rex.

Coconut, Jackson Holliday

Jackson Holliday’s dog is already famous for appearing on a bobblehead this season with his owner. The Bernedoodle, which Holliday and his wife got during spring training in 2024, is “an experienced traveler.” Three days after Coconut came into their lives, the Hollidays drove from Florida to Norfolk, Virginia, to begin the season.

“He’s a really funny dog,” Holliday said. “He hates walks. Like, passionately hates walks. We try to take him out at our apartment, and he’ll barely make it to the grass. We try to go any farther, he just lays down. He’s funny. He lays around a lot during the day. And, like most dogs, he’ll get into the mood where he likes to play.”

Last month, when Chloe Holliday was in Florida, Jackson Holliday was playing video games. Coconut carried all of his toys out of the bin and spread them out around the apartment — a not-so-subtle hint that it was time to play.

Holliday said Coconut’s disdain for walks is more an issue for Chloe than himself.

“We kind of tag team it where I’ll stop walking and he’ll stop walking,” Holliday said. “It’s more funny than anything. When it’s super hot, it’s whatever, but when it’s a nice day he’ll still shut it down. He likes the beach, though. He likes that. But he does not like walks.”

Holliday added that Chloe sometimes jokes at her luck: “I love to walk, and we get a dog who hates it?”

Noodles, Brandon Young

Between Beavers’ dog and Brandon Young’s chihuahua-dachshund mix named Noodles, the Orioles’ clubhouse could have its own condiment race. Young’s dog is 7.

“We don’t have children,” Young said. “But he’s our child.”

His wife got him while she and Young were dating in college. She arrived at his game and held up the tiny dog. “Look what I got,” she said. “He looked like a little noodle, and that’s why she called him that.”

Young’s team had just lost the game, so he wasn’t in the best mood. But the dog quickly cheered him up. “He’s my dude,” Young said.

“Dude, he’s super chill,” Young said. “He’ll just sleep all day. If we stay in bed, he’ll stay in bed until we get up. He’s awesome.”

Brody and Apollo, Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso, who donated to BARCS this year, is an advocate for rescue animals. He and his wife, Haley, have two of their own. Brody and Apollo are both mixes of assorted small breeds, such as Boston terrier and French bulldog.

Brody joined the family in 2018. In 2021, Apollo joined in to help, in part, to occupy Brody’s high energy.

“With all the travel, the small dogs are super convenient for us,” Alonso said. “I grew up with bigger dogs. My boyhood dog was a chocolate Lab, and he was awesome. In college we had a beagle mix. But then, as I got into pro ball with my wife, it was just easier managing travel with smaller dogs.”

Alonso said Brody and Apollo are “forever puppies.”

“They’re both still super high energy, super lovey, which is awesome, because both of them love Teddy [his son],” Alonso said. “And Teddy loves the dogs. He’s petting them. It’s adorable. It’s been awesome.”

Chief and Dolly, Gunnar Henderson

During the season, Chief stays with Gunnar Henderson’s parents. Dolly stays with Katherine Lee Henderson’s parents. When they’re together in the offseason, the German wirehaired pointer (Chief) and cocker spaniel (Dolly) are an energetic duo.

Chief is a trained hunting dog who joins Henderson on quail hunts. He is well trained, but he enjoys pushing the limits.

“He’s very spastic,” Henderson said. “He knows when he’s doing something wrong. We’ll tell him to ‘place,’ and he’ll put one foot off, and you look at him, and he’ll put the foot back where he’s supposed to be. He’s funny in that sense with the looks he gives you.”

Henderson’s family taught Chief how to shake hands, but that has turned into Chief requesting pets with his paw.

“He’ll just walk up to you and put his paw on you like he’s shaking,” Henderson said. “He thinks that means he gets pets all the time. It’s been pretty funny watching him develop.”

Crash, Andrew Kittredge

A week before Andrew Kittredge and his wife, Tobey, got married, they added the first member of their family: a puppy named Crash. The mini goldendoodle is high energy, super friendly and a strong family companion.

“It’s honestly challenging to have a dog as a baseball player, just with all the travel and everything,” the right-hander said. “We’ve made it work. My wife’s parents have taken him for half a season sometimes. In fact, he’s at home now, unfortunately. That’s probably the biggest challenge.

“But dogs are always in a good mood, no matter what kind of mood you’re in, so it’s nice to come home to someone you know loves you,” Kittredge said.

Gator, Shane Baz

The Doberman pinscher named Gator that Shane Baz and his fiancée own will turn 3 in October. Over their life together, Gator has been “great.” She has also been a “handful,” Baz admitted, but she’s worth the work.

“Tons of energy, always into something, wanting to play or trying to get food,” Baz said. “The past year or so she has really calmed down. I think getting out of the puppy stage, and if she has a busy morning, she turns into a couch potato. Most days she’s like that, and when I take her somewhere to run around or on our property or something, she sleeps the whole way home and the rest of the day.”

Until dinnertime.

“She’ll wake up right at 5:30,” Baz said, “and then she’ll go right back to sleep. She’s all about breakfast and dinner. That’s her favorite two times of the day.”

Baz and his fiancée keep Gator with them in Baltimore throughout the season rather than having her stay with either set of parents. Baz said they thought about that possibility due to how much they travel, but “it’s wonderful” to come home to Gator at the end of the day.

“It’s been great having her during the season,” Baz said. “She’s always excited when I get home. She’s always wondering where I’m going or what I’m doing. She’s a lot of fun.”

Maui Blue, Kyle Bradish

Depending on the time of day, Maui Blue is subject to change.

“He’s pretty chill throughout the day, and then at night, we call him ‘Monster Maui,’ because he’s a little crazy,” right-hander Kyle Bradish said.

The 6-year-old English cream golden retriever is named after the island on which Bradish and his wife, Mollie, got engaged. He was a COVID dog, so he’s “a little nervous outside because he didn’t go outside much as a puppy.”

But, when Maui Blue is with his parents, he enjoys car rides. And, while he’s “kind of mellowed out, he still has ‘Monster’ time.”