Kevin Costner Reveals Why He Relates to His 7-Month-Old Puppy Bobby

For Kevin Costner, it was love at first sight with his now 7-month-old Labrador puppy, Bobby. He introduced Bobby as the “newest addition to the family” on Instagram in February, sharing his instant affection for the pup, saying, “I’m already in love with this special guy.”

Their bond has only deepened over time, with Costner noting their shared personality traits. In a recent cover story for PEOPLE, Costner reveals, “I’m like Bob.” He explains that both he and Bobby can be very passive in their daily lives but switch to a focused and energetic mode when needed.

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“Bob just gets in the car. He does not care where we go. Bob’s lazy; all he does is sleep. He just goes ‘woof’ at the door a few times. But if I put Bobby in the field, you see his IQ go up 30 points. He looks like an Adonis of dogs. He just knows exactly who he is,” Costner adds.

Costner sees a reflection of himself in Bobby’s behaviour. “I can be very passive in my life,” says the Oscar winner, whose epic Western *Horizon: An American Saga* hits theatres on June 28. “But once I commit to a movie, I’m relentless there. All they have to do is get me [to set], and then I know what I’m doing. I become like Bobby.”

Costner compares his focused state on a movie set to Bobby’s in the field. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but you get me on a set, and my IQ goes up 30 points…. I know what I need to do. That’s the closest to watching an animal be exactly where they need to be and how they look in the wild.”

Bobby, who spent time on the set with Costner while filming the third of four planned chapters of the ambitious ‘Horizon’ project, has one quirk Costner does not share: a love for sleeping in the dishwasher. “I have to push him out,” Costner says, noting Bobby has outgrown his favourite spot. “He’s too heavy now. He wants to get in there, and he’s not comfortable with me kicking him out.” Costner humorously adds that while Bobby’s dishwasher naps might have been cute when he was smaller, “He is too big for it… He doesn’t look cute in it. He looks like a big towel in there now, a big white towel.”

–Farheen Ali