The Tales of Pug People fell in love with the funny little faces of Penny Lane and Libby Moon, not to mention the magical sound of their names, so we were delighted to get a chance to sit down with their Person, Liz, and get the skinny on life with a Bugg and a Frug. That’s right, it’s our first pug blends and what a delicious concoction they are, like pug smoothies with different ingredients and flavors and—okay, that’s enough of the food metaphors, let’s do this.
PP: Liz, your girls have the honor of being the first mixed breeds on Tales of Pug People.
Liz: Oh, how exciting! Thank you!
PP: Well, it’s not quite like winning the Nobel, but we appreciate your kind enthusiasm. Tell us about Penny and Libby.
Liz: Penny Lane is a Bugg (Boston Terrier/Pug) and Libby Moon is a Frug (Frenchie/Pug).
PP: Honestly, though, they don’t really look like mixes. The pug is strong in them.
Liz: Penny might look a little more like a pug. I got her as a puppy and the breeder insisted she was full pug. Then her legs got really long. Hmmm, yeah, not 100% pug.
PP: Liz, we love to hear about the beginning of people's Pug Peopleness. Tell us your pug backstory.
Liz: Back in my 20s, I got my first pug. His name was Grandpa.
PP: Grandpa?! OMP, that is pure pug name awesomeness.
Liz: Yeah, I just fell in love with his face. And I never had children so I loved how he clung to me. I love how pugs love you. It’s like, this cute little fluffy depends on me.
PP: The Saran Wrap pug, you can’t detach them. One of our favorite things about the breed.
Liz: Grandpa passed when he was almost 16 and then I didn’t have a pug for a long time. But I still had a ton of pug stuff around and bought pug stuff when I saw it at the store.
PP: The mark of a true Pug Person—even if there’s no pug in the house, there’s still pug décor.
Liz: Exactly! So, when I got remarried and my husband said “we need a dog”, you know I went for pugs.
PP: We would expect nothing less, Liz. Did you prep your hubby for Pugdom?
Liz: Oh, yeah, I told him everything up front. They’re clingy, they shed like crazy, they snore. I gave him all the disclaimers.
PP: We hope you told him they were going to be sleeping with you guys.
Liz: Um, no, that came later.
PP: Smart lady. How did they get their wonderful names?
Liz: My 10-year old stepson is a big Beatles fan, so when I asked him what we should name our first pug he said, “Penny Lane” and it just seemed so right for her. When we rescued our second, we knew we needed a name that went with Penny Lane, so I asked him again and he said, “Libby Moon”. He just liked how the names went together.
PP: They really are lovely and sound rather magical, like a children’s book. And they seem like they really get along well, too.
Liz: Well… to be honest, it’s a love/hate relationship.
PP: Do either of them have any quirks? General pug quirks or Libby & Penny quirks?
Liz: I don’t know if this is a pug quirk, but Penny loves to steal socks and go hide them. I’ll find a hole dug in the yard and my sock is in there. We’re going to redo our lawn and we’ll probably find all the socks I’ve been missing for years.
PP: I don’t think we’ve heard that one before. Maybe that’s Penny’s Boston Terrier influence, we can’t imagine any self-respecting pug expending that kind of energy.
Liz: Oh, maybe. As far as their personalities go, Penny is a little more “I want to be alone.” Libby is very sweet and loves to cuddle. She wants to be on you. And I don’t mean on your lap.
PP: Liz, we’ve arrived at our favorite part of the interview. Do you have a True Pug Confession?
Liz: Well… I’m a neat freak and I’m constantly cleaning up. So, one thing I’m very, very particular about—they gotta have a clean butt. I wipe them every single time they go potty. I have wipies everywhere and I just… you know… clean the butt. My mom says, “your dogs have the cleanest butts in the world.” ‘Cause, come on, their butt is out in the open! We see the butt constantly!
PP: We love this so hard. Because, yes, the pug butt. It is proud and out there on display.
