By the infinite magic of the Zoom, The Tales of Pug People got together with Claudine who uttered the million-dollar question for any Pug Person: “Would you like to meet the pugs?” Oh yes, Claudine, we want to meet Duck and Chips—and snuggle them and ogle them and smoosh them and breathe in their puggish perfume. Sadly, Zoom does not have a “smell” button, so we were left to squeal remotely and make vague promises of traveling to Manhattan to pug stalk. Now it’s time for you to meet this adorable duo and see if we exaggerate their adorableness (spoiler alert: we do not).
PP: Claudine, are you a lifelong Pug Person or is this a relatively new development?
Claudine: I did not grow up as a Pug Person, but there was a family in our building that had three pugs and between that and seeing pugs in commercials and movies, my son and I became slowly obsessed. It was an organic thing. Every night when I was putting him to bed, we would scroll through Instagram and look through all the pug hashtags.
PP: And your husband? Did he also cross over to the dark side?
Claudine: Oh, my husband thought we were crazy. At first, he tried to act as though he didn’t love the pugs as much as we did. Of course, we saw right through that.
PP: We believe you, because you said Duck and Chips sleep with you guys. Any man who lets pugs into his marital bed is a true Pug Person.
Claudine: Yep. We used to have a crate for Duck and his brother, Goose, but when Goose died, we felt so badly for Duck that we brought him into the bed. And you know there’s no coming back from that.
PP: Tell us about Goose.
Claudine: We got Duck and Goose as littermates, but found out just after his second birthday that Goose had a congenital liver disease called Porto Systemic Shunt. After his surgery, he started having grand mal seizures and was on life support for six days before he died.
PP: Just heartbreaking. It must have been so hard on all of you.
Claudine: We were all devastated, but I think it was hardest on Duck. For two months, he slept a lot and just wasn’t himself. He was definitely depressed.
PP: Oh, sweet Duck! It’s amazing how animals feel this intense love and attachment. We know some people think they don’t have souls, but we absolutely believe they do. Did getting Chips help him?
Claudine: It was probably the annoyance factor that got him out of his slump. Chips is a little rascal. His favorite thing is to chew on Duck’s ears. Luckily, Duck is as chill as they come.
PP: It’s always so cute to see a fawn and black pug together.
Claudine: Not that Chips is easy to see. He’s so dark.
PP: Seriously! If it weren’t for the pink tongue, it would look like you had a black hole in the middle of your screen. Claudine, what do you think Duck and Chips are thinking when they look at you?
Claudine: That they love me. Duck stares at me all day long. My son says “Mom, look at him staring at you!” I know. Because he loves me so much. Chips isn’t quite as obsessed, he loves everybody. He’ll take anybody he can get.
PP: Okay, Claudine, prepare yourself for our favorite question: what is your True Pug Confession?
Claudine: I kiss them on the mouth all throughout the day. I’m constantly making out with them. My husband pretends to be horrified, “they were literally just licking the trash can!”
PP: Yeah, one of us has a mother-in-law that gets all freaked out when we smooch the pugs, she’s like, “Noooo, they lick their butts!” We just tell her that their butts are like self-cleaning ovens.
Claudine: I might use that line.
PP: You realize that snout-kissing qualifies you to claim the title of Puggiest of Pug People.
Claudine: It's an honor. Seriously, I can’t ever imagine not having a pug. I’m definitely “pugs for life”.
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