Is there anything cuter than a full Pug Family? Today you'll meet a Pug Mom, Pug Dad, and twin Pugs (legit twins, brother and sister, although fraternal instead of identical, due to a "blep" differential) and find out what makes their family dynamic so delightful. We give you those wacky Canadians, @the.pug.twins!
PP: Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, Stephanie and Ervin! Can you tell us your pug history?
Ervin: These are our first pugs and our first dogs ever.
PP: Excellent first choice. The only choice, really.
Stephanie: But we’ve been pug-obsessed since 2014. We were traveling through San Marino in Italy and we saw two pugs walking. They were the happiest dogs we’d ever seen and one of their names was Ervino.
PP: It was a sign!
Stephanie: Definitely. And from there we started going pug crazy, buying stuffed animals, blankets, pjs, Christmas ornaments, you know, it’s like a rabbit hole you go down.
PP: We call it the “pug hole”.
Ervin: And then Stephanie started following a bunch of pugs on Instagram, so I did, and then we would come home from work and start snorting in each other’s faces—
PP: Hold up! This might be your True Pug Confession.
Stephanie: Oh, we have more.
PP: No doubt. And we’ve said it before, the mark of a true Pug Person is buying pug paraphernalia before you even have a pug. Did you know that you were going to get two right off the bat?
Stephanie: Yes, one hundred percent. We knew we wanted a boy and a girl for our son and our daughter.
PP: What was the biggest adjustment, going from no pugs to two pugs?
Ervin: Mitigating the fur.
PP: You knew ahead of time how much they shed?
Ervin: Oh, yeah. But the reality… It’s been one hell of a ride.
Stephanie: And we had to get the whole house ready.
PP: You pug-proofed?
Ervin: Exactly.
PP: Can you tell us a little bit about the twins and their similarities and differences?
Ervin: Sonny is like a teddy bear, very loving and cuddly and smart. He’s the bottomless pit. He loves to eat grass. We call him our ‘nesting pug’.
PP: How do you tell them apart?
Ervin: Sonny’s blep is always to the side, Mija has a front blep.
PP: That’s convenient for identification. And the bleps destroy us. I (Shari) am obsessed with the idea of having a pug with a three-inch hanging tongue someday.
Stephanie: Mija means “my daughter”, so we have a son, Sonny, and a daughter, Mija.
PP: Perfect!
Stephanie: But we call Mija “Psycho”. That shows her personality.
PP: We assume that they sleep with you, since you’re obviously thorough Pug People.
Ervin: Of course. And when I wake up in the middle of the night, Mija’s face is right next to mine and she’s purring. She purrs like a cat. And she always has one eye open. Sometimes you’ll wake up and she’ll be awake already, staring at you.
PP: Not too creepy. Are we crazy, or did the twins do a movie or a commercial or something?
Stephanie: Yes! They had a small role in a movie called “A Picture Perfect Romance”, they played a bride and groom.
PP: So, they’re movie stars!
Stephanie: Yes, they’re registered with a talent agency. And Sonny was in Readers Digest.
Ervin: And the funny things is, when I was a kid my mom used to try to get me to read Readers Digest, so it’s kind of full circle with me. I sent a copy to my mom.
PP: She must feel like ‘my son has arrived’ now because her grandpug is in Readers Digest. Anyway, we didn’t realize we were hosting such celebrities. We would have put on lipstick.
Ervin: It’s okay, they’re very down to earth.
PP: Do you have a favorite story or memory of the twins?
Ervin: We did the Lure course at the Expo because we got asked to be celebrity pets. It’s like a huge indoor track and the dogs chase a lure around the track, with obstacles. Sonny loved it so much. He caught the lure in his mouth.
Stephanie: We play “Gonna get ya!” at home, so Sonny thought that’s what was going on and Ervin had to chase him around the track to catch him while Sonny’s just laughing at him. Finally, Ervin dives and catches him and holds him up like a reward turkey and everyone applauded.
PP: Do you guys do voices for the pugs?
Stephanie: Oh, yeah.
Ervin: All the time.
PP: This is what we like to hear.
Ervin: We think they talk with a lisp.
PP: Both of them?
Ervin: Yep.
PP: Okay, go for it.
Ervin: Mija says, “Dad, you givin’ me treatth, yeth or no?”
PP: Nice.
Stephanie: Then Sonny says to Mija, “Shut up, thithter, you’re being thtupid.”
PP: If your pugs were actual celebrities, who would they be?
Stephanie: I don’t know about celebrities, but I can tell you who they’d be in Disney cartoon characters.
Ervin: Sonny would be the little boy from “Up”.
Stephanie: Oh, I think he’d be Gus Gus from “Cinderella”.
PP: The fat mouse?
Stephanie: Yes. And Mija would be the fluffy white cat from “The Aristocats”.
PP: Ah, so Mija is Eva Gabor, that seems about right. We’re aware that this is your whole life, but do you guys have a True Pug Confession? Or, you know, another one?
Stephanie: We munch on the pugs.
Ervin: I’ll tell Sonny “you’re gonna lose a pound” and I’ll pretend to take a big bite out of his neck.
PP: Do you get fur in your teeth?
Stephanie: Oh yeah, I always check in the mirror to make sure I don’t have pug hair in my lipstick.
PP: We just love you both.
