The Tales of Pug People got to meet the delicious Cookie and her hilarious Person, Alexandra, and it was a joyous time of bonding over Pug ASMR (Cookie had just discovered chicken broth and the slurping sounds were glorious music to our ears), bizarre Pug Paraphernalia, and a True Pug Confession from one of the interviewers that must not be spoken in polite society. We know you’ll enjoy this yummy senior and her devoted mom as much as we did.
PP: First of all, Alexandra—can we just talk about the chicken broth video?
Alexandra: Yes, well, my fiancé is a chef, always in the kitchen, and whenever there's something that Cookie can eat, she gets it. So, she's very lucky. She’d never had chicken broth before so she was kind of confused, okay, it smells like chicken, but it’s a liquid? She loved it, of course, but the sounds were something else.
PP: She looked up at the camera with that big smile and her chin was dripping wet. We nearly died of the cuteness.
Alexandra: She was a very happy girl.
PP: And we need to ask you about all the pictures you post of Cookie sleeping with her face buried in the carpet.
Alexandra: I don’t know how she breathes.
PP: Literally, her whole face is submerged!
Alexandra: I'm always checking on her. And then I’m saying to my fiancé, babe, she's breathing, right? She's breathing? It’s her magical power, she can breathe through a rug.
PP: Alexandra, tell us your pug history. How did you become a Pug Person?
Alexandra: My father grew up having pugs in his life ever since he was young. And I remember being a little girl at my grandmother's house and my Dad had this cardboard box. And I’m like, what's in there? All I could see was this little round head and I said, you have grapefruits in there? Because I thought the shape of the head was a grapefruit. He put the box down on the ground, and it was a little pug puppy named Bernie.
PP: Baby Bernie the pug!
Alexandra: So, we had Bernie, then I had a black pug named Tiki and my brother had a pug named Bella, and now Cookie.
PP: Spill the tea on the Cookie backstory.
Alexandra: About fourteen years ago, a friend called me and she said, hey, there's this pug that needs a home. The owners were keeping it in a crate for twelve plus hours a day, beating it with a newspaper. And I’m like, “I'm coming to Tampa”, because I was living in Sarasota at the time, and I'm getting this pug. I didn't know what she looked like or anything, but I was like, if the dog is missing a leg, I don't care. I'm going to go save her because nobody should mistreat an animal.
PP: We would have done the same. And possibly beat the former owners with a newspaper before we left.
Alexandra: Right? So, when I got to the house of the people that were fostering her, I parked my car and I was looking around, like, where's the pug? And she poked her head from behind a big tree. I looked at her, she looked at me, and then she ran towards me and I said, oh my God. She looked like a chocolate chip cookie. And I said, you know what? I'm going to name you Cookie.
PP: That’s just perfect. In fact, it’s pugfect. Pugfection. So, this was fourteen years ago?
Alexandra: Yes, so now she's 15 years old, or you know, 15-ish. We recently celebrated her Quinceañera. Somebody asked me, are you going to have a Sweet 16 for her? I was like, of course, because we have to celebrate the American tradition, too. But I'm not sure she's going to be getting her driver's license.
PP: Does Cookie have any other quirks other than sleeping with her face buried in the carpet?
Alexandra: My fiancé comes home every night and he's very simple when it comes to his meals. He just wants something quick. We make something in the air fryer and when she hears the air fryer turn on, she goes nuts. She jumps around and borking like a maniac, and we’re like, okay, apparently you're not as senior as you pretend to be all day long.
PP: Um, can we use the word 'feisty'?
Alexandra: Oh, yeah. She’s super sweet, but she can also be a little show pony. She likes to be seen, and she wants to make sure that you see her.
PP: Okay, Alexandra, this is the true test of a Pug Person; does Cookie sleep with you guys?
Alexandra: Funny, I was just talking about this with my fiancé. Cookie spends the first few hours of the night with us, but every night around 3am, she starts kicking us with her front legs to let us know she's ready to go into her own bed and he wakes up and puts her there. This is like a nightly routine, and of course I love having her there, but I don't understand why my fiancé enjoys getting up in the middle of the night. I want her to be close to us, but I also value my sleep a lot. I’m like, babe, you could just sleep a whole night through if we just put her in her own bed when we go to sleep. And he’s like, no, it's okay, she likes being here with us.
PP: A true Pug Dad, willing to be kicked and woken from a dead sleep for pug needs. Okay, our other Pug Person test is how much Pug Paraphernalia do you have in your home?
Alexandra: Oh, please. I'm wearing a shirt right now that says ‘Pugs, Not Drugs’. I have pug earrings on. I think everybody in my life has given me something pug-related multiple times, plates, clothing, candles, shot glasses. I have a shirt that my stepmother gave me for Breast Cancer Awareness Month that has a pug on each breast.
PP: Okay, we haven’t heard this one before.
Alexandra: Yeah, I feel weird wearing it, so I’m, like, this is just going to live in my closet.
PP: Individual pug boobs are a bridge too far. Alexandra, since you’ve been a Pug Person your entire life, we’re assuming that you know a considerable amount of other Pug People.
Alexandra: Some of the best friends I have are because they had pugs. When I was living in Sarasota, I was sitting outside on the balcony and I looked down and I was like, oh, my God, babe, babe, babe, that girl down there is walking two pugs! She lived in a building next to us and we became best friends; I ended up being a bridesmaid in her wedding and the pug connection is what created our friendship. When I lived in Miami, I was walking Cookie one day and my neighbor shouted, oh, my God, my girlfriend has a Pug! And I was like, well, I don't really care to be friends with you, I care to be friends with your girlfriend.
PP: Yep, it’s a Pug People phenomenon. We have these distinguishing characteristics.
Alexandra: We’re all really fun-loving people. A lot of spark and positivity. Everybody is incredibly nice and welcoming and warm. Quirky, with a genuine sense of humor. I think if you're a more serious person, then you're definitely getting a different breed of dog.
PP: Like a Doberman, or something.
Alexandra: Exactly!
*slight pause while Alexandra and Cookie look into each other’s eyes adoringly.
PP: We can tell how much you adore your chocolate chip cookie.
Alexandra: She’s my little girl that I love with all my heart. She brings a smile to my face every single day.
