Emeril Lagasse Fans Are Loving This Cute Photo With His Dog

Legendary chef Emeril Lagasse has been a familiar face to many since at least the early 2000s thanks to his hit Food Network cooking show "Emeril Live." Known for his expertise in Creole and Cajun cooking and his signature and self-developed "New New Orleans" cooking style, the Massachusetts-born chef put forth his cooking dreams starting at a very young age. When he was still a teen, Lagasse worked at a Portuguese bakery and would often complete an entire shift before heading to school every morning (via Cooking Channel TV). 

If there's one thing we know for sure, Lagasse stays true to his catchphrase, constantly pushing himself to "kick it up a notch!" The James Beard Award winner has hosted more than 2,000 shows on the Food Network, authored 18 cookbooks, and has opened 21 restaurants over the course of his outstanding career (per First We Feast). As his most recent endeavor, Lagasse appeared as a judge on Season 11 of "MasterChef" alongside Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sanchez, and Joe Bastianich.

Even at 61-years-old, Lagasse has still got it! And even with everything the famous chef has on his plate, Lagasse still has time to celebrate the little things — including International Dog Day!

Emeril Lagasse loves his dog as much as he loves cooking

Every year, August 26 marks International Dog Day, a holiday first created in 2004 by Colleen Paige, a pet advocate who wanted to promote dog adoptions for canines in need (via CNN). To honor his furry friend on this very special day, Lagasse took to Instagram and Twitter to share his adoration for one of his pups. The culinary star posted a picture lying on his couch with his cute canine by his side cheesing it up for the camera. 

"Happy International Dog Day!" Lagasse captioned the picture, with the associated hashtags #MansBestFriend and #InternationalDogDay. The post was met with an outpouring of love with some people saying "Awww" and "Love This" followed by heart emojis, as well as many fan responses featuring pictures of their own precious fur babies. We could all use a little puppy love during the dog days of summer, that's for sure. 

This is not the first time that Lagasse celebrated International Dog Day on social media. In 2015, Lagasee posted a picture with a different dog on Twitter with the caption "To all of the dogs out there — happy #nationaldogday." It's official: Lagasse is definitely a dog person — sorry kitties!