Pug People, we wish you could hear the gorgeous accent of Jo from Gdańsk, Poland—try to imagine it as you read this interview with shining star, Olaf the Royal Pug! Olaf would like to dedicate the following to his best friend Moper and his beautiful pugly wife, Mia @mia_vom_see. Enjoy!
PP: Olaf, are you wearing a tie?!
Jo: He is! All dressed for his interview.
PP: So handsome.
Jo: I know I’m not supposed to say because I am the mom, but he is like super handsome.
PP: Where did Olaf get his name?
Jo: From this cartoon, “Frozen”.
PP: Oh, of course! Silly us.
Jo: I saw the Olaf character, so silly and yet so super lovely, and I was like “oh, this is perfect, this is the name for my pug.” And he has big personality.
PP: Mmmm, he definitely appears to be an oversized personality.
Jo: Yes, he will change mood, sometimes super cuddly like typical Velcro pug, and then like a big star with making side eye and “Eh, I don’t care about you and your stuff.”
Jo: And he is like the—how do you say in English-- like Gremlin movie, change from the cuddly to the monster.
PP: So don’t get him wet. Or irritated.
Jo: We go to the shop in our building and the ladies love Olaf, spoiling him, and he will go straight to them so they will scratch his butt. But then sometimes they will be calling him, “Olaf, Olaf!” and he will look at them, “Not now, ladies, not now.”
PP: A big 'no' to the paparazzi. Joanna, how did you become a Pug Person?
Jo: Actually, I grew up in a house full of cats. So I was thinking maybe I am a cat person. But after university I had a friend named Pablo and he got the pug. They were not so popular here so I couldn’t see them on the street; I could see cute pictures on the internet but not in my real life. And he got the pug and I was like, this is the cutest ever, and he said when he would travel, would I watch the pug, and I was like, sure, give me this pug!
PP: His pug was your gateway drug.
Jo: Yes! And Moper—that was his name, because in Poland the pug is called ‘mops’—I took him while he and his boyfriend went to Thailand for two weeks. And the craziness of Covid happened—
PP: Ohhhhhh…
Jo: Exactly. They got stuck in quarantine and Moper was with me more than two months. And it was the best time, I fell in love.
PP: You must have been so sad when you had to give him back!
Jo: I was crying like little baby. Crying, crying, crying. And a hole in my heart that I couldn’t have anything to fill it. I knew I needed a pug in my life.
PP: 100% yes. A pug and only a pug.
Jo: They are different. They are not dogs. They are pugs.
Jo: So I was looking, looking, and I find exactly Olaf on the other side of the country. I saw this was my perfect boy.
PP: You drove there?
Jo: Yes, and funny story, the breeder was sending me videos of the pugs to see which one I liked the most and I chose Olaf. But when we came there, all the puppies run toward me and Olaf… didn’t care at all. He didn’t give a damn about me. He just walk up and have this face like, who is this coming during my nap?
PP: How very intrusive of you.
Jo: And he was the chunkiest there. The breeder says, he got chunky, you can change your mind. I was like, noooo, he is maybe smarter than the rest and he is eating their food!
PP: Brilliance recognizes brilliance. Does Olaf hang out with Moper?
Jo: He is obsessed. I only say Moper’s name and Olaf is like, “Where?! Where?!” He loves him like he is a bigger brother.
PP: If Olaf was a celebrity, who would he be?
Jo: Oh, I know this. He would be Antonio Banderas. This I know, yes.
PP: We're sure there are plenty, but do you have a favorite memory or story about Olaf you’d like to share?
Jo: It is hard because we are making so many memories together. But a funny story, Olaf was on a walk with my ex, and some girls starts to smile at him and my ex is like, “oh, these girls are looking at me, what is going on?” And they got close and immediately kneel down and say, “Hi, Olaf! Hi, sweetheart!” My ex was so confused.
PP: Sorry it didn’t work out with you and your ex.
Jo: Eh, it’s fine. I have my lifetime love with Olaf.
