The Tales of Pug People traveled by the magic of the Zoom to sunny Miami to meet the sunniest of pugs: Samson, who looks like he’s having the time of his life in every single Instagram picture. And sure, he may have come factory-equipped with that sparkling pugsonality, but we know that a great deal of his joy comes from the love of his profound Pug Person, Laurie. We know you’ll enjoy meeting this inseparable duo (with a sweet Pug Husband, Mark, thrown in for some extra flavor).
PP: Laurie, we were dying to interview Samson because his smiling face and cute outfits are everywhere in our feed. Does he like having his picture taken?
Laurie: He absolutely loves it. When I put an outfit on him, he’ll literally just stop and pose. He doesn’t even need a treat. And he gives me a variety of looks, smiles for some, then serious faces, and a lot of angles. He’ll look this way, then that way so I can catch every nuance. He’s a true model.
PP: We do love a runway-ready pug.
PP: So, let’s start with your backstory, Laurie; were you always a Pug Person?
Laurie: I was always obsessed with pugs. I had pug Beanie Babies and I can remember going to the mall as a teenager and I would stop in the pet store and ask them to take the pug puppy out so I could hold it. I don’t even know if they have pet stores in malls anymore.
PP: No, otherwise that’s where you’d find us. When did you actually get a pug?
Laurie: I got my first pug, Jack, with an ex-fiancé. He desperately wanted a dog, but I knew I would be the one with all the responsibility, so I said we’re getting the kind of dog I want. We broke up three months later. I gave back the ring and took the pug.
PP: A girl never forgets her first pug. Tell us about Jack.
Laurie: Oh, Jack and I had this incredible bond and I didn’t know at the time that all Pug People are like that. I never really told anyone how close I felt to Jack because I thought it would seem weird. It wasn’t until Instagram came around that I got that this was a regular pug thing.
PP: Ha! Yes, Instagram allowed all the crazy Pug People to find each other.
Laurie: I always promised Jack I would find a good daddy for him and when Jack was three, I married Mark.
*Pause to acknowledge Mark, who is sitting next to Laurie in silent Pug Husband support.
Laurie: I lost Jack at age 14 and after enduring the most painful six weeks of my life, Mark took me out for a drive. We ended up at a house with a big sign that said “Beware of Dog” and a woman was standing there with the tiniest little baby pug I’d ever seen.
PP: The Samson surprise!
*Pause to commend Mark’s kind Pug Husbandness, which he takes in stride.
PP: Tell us the differences between Jack and Samson.
Laurie: Well, all the standard pug qualities are the same, the cuddling, the wanting to be with me constantly. But Jack was more of a security guard; he was very macho, very “Cujo” if anyone got close to me. Samson is the silliest and happiest boy ever.
PP: Maybe that’s because Jack knew he was the man of the house.
Laurie: I think so! I lived alone with Jack for a long time. Samson doesn’t have that responsibility, so he’s free to just be a goofball.
PP: We notice that Samson has a lot to say in his Instagram account. How did you find his ‘voice’?
Laurie: I have the imagination of a five-year old, so I channel that for Samson’s first-person posts. When I get into that part of my brain, no one can interrupt me, and I can figure out what Samson is thinking just by his actions and his facial expressions.
PP: You know we can relate. Those flat faces speak volumes. Like that picture of him in the red outfit, he looks a little miffed.
Laurie: Oh, yeah. He does love wearing outfits, but not the ones where you have to stuff his legs into the sleeves.
PP: Laurie, this is so much fun. We definitely feel that Pug People bond with you.
Laurie: Yes! All pug people I talk to are like us, you know, that “I’ll cross a busy highway if I see a pug” thing. When you meet a Pug Person, there’s that instant bond.
PP: We love the Pugdom!
Laurie: Except this one time I saw a woman with a pug at the nail salon and I go running over with my phone out to show pictures of Samson in our “I have a pug too!” way. And she said in this really dismissive voice, “Oh. Cool.” Like she was making fun of me.
PP: No! NonPug Person with a pug!
Laurie: But you know what? I didn’t even care, because I just wanted to pet the pug. I pretended to be oblivious to her tone, so I could get a snuggle in.
PP: Bless you, we don’t know if we could have been so chill in the face of such a heathen. Tell us, does Samson have any quirks?
Laurie: He’s obsessed with people’s feet. He’ll untie someone’s shoelaces and run away. I think he does it for the entertainment value.
PP: He really seems like he loves to entertain others. A real clown.
Laurie: Yep. He’s always ready for fun and up for a good time.
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