December 18, 2024 • 50 mins
This week on In the Vet's Office, Dr. Josie dives into an unbelievable case of the week—a gravity-defying cat who fell 12 stories and survived. Then, the OG of social media pets, Doug the Pug, stops by with his mom Leslie and his adorable sister, Dory. From his rise to stardom to his 18 million adoring followers, Doug’s story is nothing short of legendary. Dr. Josie asks Leslie questions people are dying to know, including: Does Doug have a morning or bedtime routine? Do Doug and Dory sleep in the bed? Who's more likely to poop in the house? Dr. Josie wraps up the episode with Paw and Order for Brachycephalic breeds (Smoosh-faced breeds).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor Josie Horschak.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, welcome to in the Vets Office. I am
your host, Doctor Josie, and I am so excited about
this week's episode. We have the infamous og social media sensation,
Doug the Pug coming on. He I'm pretty sure is
the most followed dog in the world, and we have
produced a Morgan here today.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hello. Not nearest important as Doug the Pug.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Doug the Pug takes the cake, but you're a pretty
close second.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So before we jump into our interview with Doug, we
are going to do our case of the week. So
this case happened back when I was living in downtown Chicago.
I was a fairly young veterinarian. It was just another
boring day in the office when all of a sudden,
this young man comes in very shaken up, in shambles.
(01:03):
He had been out on his patio drinking his morning coffee,
reading his newspaper, and all of a sudden a cat
came falling out of the sky, Oh my god, and
onto the table of his patio. This cat lived twelve
stories above him, and his owner had often let him
out onto the balcony. He would just kind of sunbathe
and hang. But on this day a bird flew by
(01:25):
and he got a wild hair and decided he was
going to go catch that bird. So he jumped up
onto the railing, made the leap of faith, and gravity
took over and he went down twelve stories to this
man's patio.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Did this cat live?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
This cat lived, So when they say cats have nine lives,
they truly mean it. The things that cats indoor and
then come out on the other side is amazing. This
is just one of the examples. The cat came in.
It was in shock. It had a broken jaw, a
broken leg.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Very when you say it's in shock, what is an
animal in shock?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Look like being in shock is a medical term meeting
like your blood pressure is affected, your heart rates affected,
you're dehydrated. So usually they have like really pale gums,
their heart rate can be through the roof, their blood
pressure is low. So he kind of checked all those boxes.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Do you immediately look at this cat and go hmmm,
oh it's aron great, or he's got a fighting chance.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This is uh yeah. I was like, this is probably
not going to end up well. But you never know
it's a cat. I'm telling you, they are survivors. Survivors.
So the owner wasn't there. So the guy you know,
brings the cat, comes running to the clinic. He was
only just a couple high rises away.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Good on him for bringing the cat that wasn't his
into the office.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yes, he puts that bill And funny enough, the cat
was one of our patients. So he just happened to
bring it to the right clinic odds. And we immediately
start stabilizing it and taking X rays and doing all
the things, giving it oxygen and fluids and doing life
saving procedures on it. And and somehow the owner, I
can't remember if he got a hold of the owner,
but the owner finds out, she comes in and we
(03:06):
were able to you know, he had to have surgery
on his broken bones, but we were able to save
his life.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
First off, claps for doctor Josie and I don't want
to pet parents. Shame. But the owner wasn't home and
they let their cat on the balcony.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
The owner was home, but it's like you leave your
little sliding door open. A lot a lot of owners
do this in the city. We saw this all the time.
In Chicago, where you leave the balcony open, pets come
in and out. Even here in Nashville, I see it
and they kind of come and go at their leisure,
usually while the parents home, And ninety nine percent of
the time they're fine.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
But that one percent do you.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Go home that day and just feel like you really
rock that shit?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I go home that day and I'm like, oh my gosh,
that was I don't know. I don't think I rocked
that shit. I think about the owner. I'm like, gosh,
they must feel so guilty. You think about the man
drinking his coffee now as PTSD of cats falling out
of this. Sometimes I'll pat myself on the back every
once in a while, but for the most part, I'm
like reeling from how emotional everyone else must feel.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I bet it took that man a few weeks to
be able to go back on his patio after that.
Talk about the PTSD.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely, you're getting the therapists after this. So now I was, Yeah,
I was a reminder for me, if you're sending your
pets out onto the balcony, please keep a very very
very very close eye on them. And uh, I guess
if you're sitting on the tenth floor. Maybe we're a helmet.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Be careful.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh man, that's a really great pace of the week.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was, And now we'll just dive right into our
our interview. So, as I said, we have Doug the
Pug coming on and his sister Dory. She's a new
addition to the family, and of course his mom, Leslie,
who will be answering the questions for him. Doug is,
as you know, the og social media pet sensation.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
He has paved the way for.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The likes of like Mispeaches and all of these you
know pets that we've come to know and love on
Instagram and TikTok. He has over eighteen million followers across
his social media platforms and he is probably the most
famous dog in the world.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So it's more successful than we'll probably ever be.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Oh he is more. We will never come a tenth
of us clothes. That's the successful bug walked.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
So Alex Earl could run exactly exactly, and that's the
perfect segue. We're gonna take a quick break and when
we get back, we'll have Doug here.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Awesome all right.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
In the Vets office, we have Doug the Pug, who's
here today with his mom, Leslie, and his baby sister Dorry.
I'm so excited to have you guys.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Story's podcast debut. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I mean, Doug is a he is a veteran in this,
He's like, I'm over it. But Dory's here. She is
ready to go, so I'm excited. It's her first podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
She's so we're probably gonna hear a lot of snores today.
Doug is like in total chill mode next to me,
and Dorry is all about this.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
She's at attention, She's ready to go. Well, welcome. I'm
so excited to have you here. I have been following
Doug for many years, and I knew that he was
probably like one of the most famous dogs in the world.
But when I was researching today's interview, I didn't realize
just how impressive his resume is. So I'm going to
(06:19):
read a snippet of this for the listeners out there
who probably also follow him, but just like didn't realize
how big of a deal he is. So Doug has
won two People's Choice Awards. He starred in a Super
Bowl commercial. He has a New York Times best selling book,
a top selling calendar. He has his own merchandise and
(06:39):
holistic pet care line. He has starred in music videos
for Katie Perry, Dncee, and Fallout Boy. He has been
kissed by the one and only Justin Bieber, and the
mayor of Nashville has declared his birthday, which is May twentieth,
as the Doug the Pug Day in the city.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That's wild. It's wild, I mean that is crazy. Yeah,
It's been a very fun and insane ride that never
ceases to blow our mind. Sometimes I wake up in
the morning and I'm like, what happened?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like, Yeah, can you just to kind of like rewind
all the way back to the beginning?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
How did this all come to me? So? I used
to actually work a few buildings over Okay, on music row.
I went to Belmont and that's what moved me to Nashville.
And I had dreams of working in the music industry
and doing marketing and PR and like graphic design and
branding and stuff for bands. And so I got a
job doing that at a small record label artist management company.
(07:40):
And I got Doug when I was a junior at Belmont,
and so I was in college in college, and so
I was going to work on music row and then
I would come home and I had my dream pug
who loved getting dressed up and loved doing activities with
me around town. And it became this kind of true
(08:00):
where I would get home from work and go out
around Nashville and take pictures with him. This was in
the very beginning of Instagram. I think this was twenty
thirteen when I started posting him, and so I just
did it for fun on my personal Instagram. I mean,
no one even really had like my friends didn't even
really have it. It was mostly Facebook at that time.
(08:21):
And I would post him and say, Doug the pug
doing that Doug and I blah blah blah, and people
just wanted to see Doug. So if I posted anything
on my personal Instagram that wasn't Doug, people were like,
where's Doug, Like, we don't really care. They just wanted
to see Doug. And so I started getting a little
more creative and doing I started getting a little more
(08:45):
creative and doing you know, things that were on trend,
like holiday type things, or if a famous artist was
coming into Nashville. I would like play off that and
big Instagram pug accounts that had all these followers the
time when they would take our photos and post them
and tag us, they would get so many likes, and
(09:07):
it was this rush of like, WHOA, that's so cool
a photo that I took and a concept that I
came up with, and the styling and everything, like people
are resonating with this, they like it. And again this
is very condensed. But I ended up switching my account
from me to just dug and putting more effort and
(09:29):
time into it. And he reached one hundred thousand followers
on Instagram, which was insane and huge and amazing at
the time, and we had a little party and I
was just honestly a very fun hobby. It got me,
brought me a lot of joy, and it brought other
people joy. And I would be lying if I didn't
say that. At that time, I saw it being something
(09:51):
like what it is now. I had this gut feeling
to pursue it, and so I actually when he hit
one hundred thousand followers, I put in I noticed to
quit my job. Wow, and people thought I was crazy.
I kind of lied to most people and said I'm
starting my own graphic design business because I didn't want
to be like so I have this dog that has
on Instagram, and I think he would make a really cute,
(10:14):
stuffy animal. But it happened as soon as I put
my notice in for that job. At that one hundred
thousand party, we had a pug balloon left over, and
Rob and I were just dating at the time, and
he was on tour and so all by myself, I
went to Dragon Park in Hillsborough Village, which was right
(10:36):
by my old apartment, and I tied the pug balloon
to Doug. And again, he doesn't care about anything, so
he was all about it. He was running around the
park with this pug balloon attached to him and I
sent the footage to Rob and I said, can you
put a cute song over this? Can you put like people?
Let me tell you about my best friend, Like, let's
make the pug balloon his best friend. And I posted
(10:58):
it to Doug's Facebook, his Instagram, and then I made
him a Twitter because I was like, what would a
band need, Like if I were to help one of
my artists at the label, what would they need? And
so I put it on all these things and I
had a logo for Doug and I took it very seriously.
But that night I posted it, didn't think anything of it.
I woke up and I looked on Facebook. He had
(11:20):
three thousand likes at the time on Facebook, and the
next day he had like fifteen thousand. I'm like, what happened?
And I looked at the video and had twenty million views.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Wow, and this is the one hundred k party where
he's running around with a pug bull.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yes, Like right after that party, I took a little
video with a leftover balloon and I was like, whoa.
All of a sudden, it was real okay, you know,
And by the end of that week he had a
million likes followers on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Doug was like, my mom just quit her job. I
got to go to one.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
He was like, let's go. And so it was this
crazy feeling of like I felt very ready for it,
because I had already kind of set it up for success,
but for it to actually happened and for me to
have the free time to do it. So Rob luckily
got home from tour right around then, and we just
(12:10):
started making videos. I mean every day we were coming
up with like, let's dress dug up as Harry Potter
and call him Harry Pugger. Or you know all these
popular TV shows The Walking Dead. I dressed him as
a zombie and we were crazy people running around Radnor
Lake with our dog with a dressed as a zombie
(12:32):
and like but we didn't care. It was just this
very exhilarating time. And within a few months we had
a book deal and later that year we were going
on a book tour all over the world. We went
to London.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Did he hit his first million followers that year?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Oh? Yeah, so he on Facebook went from three thousand
to a million within like a few weeks. Okay, on Instagram.
Instagram's a harder platform to grow, so I think it
took a little longer. But honestly, Justin Bieber posting. He
posted two pictures of Doug. His label actually hit us
(13:12):
up and was like, hey, remember the Justin Bieber era
of like sorry and what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It was like the best era, take me back?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And he was like on the Calvin Klein ads, they
asked Doug to be a part of a countdown for
how many days until? What do you mean? Okay? And
so I took pictures of Doug wearing Calvin kleins and
that little sign that said eight days what do you mean?
And Justin posted two of those photos and tagged Doug.
We went up like one hundred thousand followers in a day,
(13:43):
I bet, and it was. It's just still so crazy
to even look back on that and to see what
it is now, and just it's been the most amazing
fun ride and Doug loves every second of it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
One thing that you said that I just feel like
sitting here and talking with you is I feel like
there's Instagram influencers and TikTokers where you're like, Okay, this
is like their job and you can kind of tell
like it just seems so organic and you just enjoy
I mean, obviously he's like your child, so you enjoy
doing it. He loves to do it, and like that
just really translates. I thank you on his page is
why he's so successful.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I really appreciate that. I feel like, obviously social media
has changed exponentially. We've been doing it full time for
almost ten years and it's changed so much. And I
think every day I have to make the conscious choice
and Rob as well to do it because we love it, right,
(14:40):
Because we would have a completely different approach to social
media with Doug if we were doing it just for
the followers and the clout at this point. Yeah, and
so it's honestly become so much more laid back, and
we're a lot happier because of it because we're just
sharing like literally what we want to share doing anyway there. Yeah,
(15:02):
we feel like we have nothing else to prove at
this point, right, and it's it's just like truly for
fun and to like we still have so many big
dreams obviously, but his happiness and our happiness is like
most important.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Of course, does he have an agent or do you
guys do everything?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
He does have an agent And that's a funny story too.
So again, when this video went viral, it was March
of twenty fifteen, and there were no the term influencer
wasn't even a thing. Content creator wasn't even a thing.
He's really the og. He's the og dog, celebrity dog.
(15:54):
But we didn't know what to do because it was like, Okay,
we're having these brands that want to collaborate with us,
but like we I guess we need to set up
a business like for our dog, Like okay, I think
we can do this. Like again, people thought we were
crazy and we met our agent at a wedding and
she was working in the music industry but came from
(16:16):
the agency world, and she was like, I think I
think we could do this, guys, Like what if we
just did a six month trial contract. I'll pitch you
to the brands, I'll negotiate for you, Like, let's just
see what happens. And her name's Toy. She has been
with us for almost ten years now and she's now
the president of Talent at Whaler Agency, which is like
(16:37):
the biggest creator agency, And she was just invited to
the White House to speak in front of the President
about content creators and like raising like rights for content
creators and helping with like things like insurance, like treating
us as real business owners. Yeah, and so even she's
evolved so much. So. Yeah, we have a small but
(17:00):
mighty team and ninety percent of those people have been
with us since the beginning, before it was even a thing.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Well, that speaks a lot to probably working with you guys,
and thank you of course Doug too. Has there been
I mean, from all the concerts and red carpets and
sporting events, has there ever been a moment where you're like,
I cannot believe that. I'm sure it happens all the time,
but like, what is the moment where you're like, I
can't believe this is happening.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
So this is my go to answer. I have a
lot of moments where I'm just like, it feels very
out of body. I've had to learn that before we
walk into something where we're like, Okay, this is crazy,
I have to like be as present as possible because afterwards,
when it becomes just a memory, it's it's just so weird,
like did I just black out? So Shakira flew us
(17:45):
to Barcelona, Sony Latin, her label hit us up and
they were like, we want Doug to promote her song
El perro Fiel. And it was like a natural thing
and they're like can you come to bar Salona next week?
And we're like okay, and they're like, oh yeah, and
you're gonna shoot with Shakira and this time, this place is.
(18:10):
It ended up being at her house, wow, And it
was so low key and laid back that we actually
like got to spend the day with her amazing, and
she was so lovely and so beautiful and kind and
loved Doug, and Doug was playing with her kids. And
that's probably the most pinch me moment is I have goosebump. Yeah,
(18:32):
being in Shakira's mansion looking over Barcelona and it being
like a genuine moment. I think that's the cool thing
about Doug is when we do meet these people that,
like a lot of them are my heroes. Like, you know,
I grew up as a musician, my husband too, So
like when we get to meet people from the past
(18:56):
that we listened to, it's really cool because when they
meet Doug, it to them is like a breath of
fresh air to meet a dog, you know, like they're
not on right, they are just solely excited to meet
a dog, right, And so we get to kind of
see people for who they are. Oh high doors do.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Has jumped off of my chair and now she's like,
I want to see another you can hang some of baby.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh there we go. There we go, two pugs in
that chair. Good shot.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Okay, it's funny you say that because I've said that
on this podcast. When I interview celebrities or musicians, they're
always talking about their jobs and their career and they're this,
but when you talk about their pets, Oh, they immediately softened,
and it's just like a different side of them. I
think it's like such a special side that most people
don't get to see.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, it's the best of us. It totally takes off
that veil. And that's like been one of the coolest
parts is again meeting people that we grew up listening
to and realizing that they're just humans. They're just like us,
just like us, and they love it. If they don't
love animals, that's the red flag.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
We have nothing in common, Like I can't really, it
is the ultimate red flag.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Obviously, he's a very chill guy. I mean he's like
half asleep on the chair as we speak right now.
Story's laying on top of this is what we call
pug piling. I love it, and they are the masters
of it. And Doug just doesn't mind. And he's just like,
come on top, He's here for it. Has there ever
been I mean, clearly he enjoys the attention. He's very
laid back. Has there ever been an experience or a
(20:29):
circumstance We're like, hmm, I don't know if he's really
liking this, Like I kind of feel like I need
to step in there.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Have been parts of like meet and greets when it
just gets to be too much and I pull him away. Obviously,
his safety and happiness is number one. And the nice
thing is that we've figured it out over the years,
like what is appropriate and what's not, because you know,
I feel like Doug and I are so cosmically intertwined,
(20:58):
to say the least, where we both pick up on
each other's energy to a fault, where like, if I'm
really stressed, Doug is not going to be feeling all
that day, and so I have to be very cognizant
and in that same breath, I can pick up on
if something is wrong and you know, it doesn't ever
really happened, but like, you know, if there is a
(21:20):
situation where I'm like, Doug doesn't like this, or you know,
if there's another animal on set or something that like
is not making him feel good or bad, then I
pull him away. And we've learned to like have those
boundaries for him and advocate for him like that.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Sin They're so cute, They're amazing. We're getting this on video. Yeah,
I think that. You know, it's so interesting when owners
come into me and they're telling me how their dog
is sick and they'll be like no, like I know
they're not doing it right now, but I promise you
they're sick. And I look at them and I say,
you know your dog better than anybody, like I trust you,
And so I think there's such a It's I know
we didn't birth them, but it sure feels like we
(21:59):
birthed them. I joke that I've birthed my dogs, and
I get one hundred percent what you're saying, like how
you feel like you are like soul twins and you
understand like when each other's off. So he's lucky that
he has a mom that advocates for him in that sense.
He probably would not have, you know, had the long
of a successful career if you didn't Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Any crazy dms that he's gotten on Instagram, are they
all pretty tame?
Speaker 1 (22:25):
We've had some interesting people for sure, Like people have
offered to purchase him, to purchase him, yes, feel like
there's not a price chat and it's it's kind of
insane to see.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
That's really crazy to me. It's very are they going
out numbers.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It's very strange or like there's a lot of people
that think that. It's like almost like they live in
our house. It's like they know all these things. I'm like,
how do you know that? Like I've never even posted that.
It's mostly like people just loving them and being sweet.
I think again, the crazy part is like when someone
shows up in our dms that's like from our past,
(23:03):
like when I was young, you know, Backstreet Boys, biggest deal.
Like still, I'll listen to it and it brings me
right back. And then Nick Carter's just like, hey, can
Doug come? I want to hang out with him before
the show? Can we make a video? And it's it's
just very wild to get a message like that, and
then you realize that it really was him. It wasn't
(23:25):
like his agent or manager or something. Right. Oh, Dory's
arm is literally around Doug.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
This is a perfect segue because I was gonna ask.
I know, Dory is a new addition to the family. She,
from what I have seen, was rescued. I'm really interested
in how she came into your family. How is Doug
feeling about having a sister.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, so we had talked about getting Doug a sibling
for quite some time, and we didn't know what it
would look like. I knew that I wanted to rescue,
and I followed a ton of Hug rescues and was
just like, Okay, I'm going to leave it up to
the powers that be and if I see a dog
(24:07):
that I know, when I the moment I see the photo,
I know that's our dog. We'll pursue it, we'll figure
it out. I've just got to let it go and
see what happens. And it was a crazy kind of
six seven, eight months of waiting. So not to get
too heavy on here, but Rob, Doug's dad, my husband,
(24:28):
was diagnosed with MS almost a year ago, and so
our decision to add another dog into the family was
partly as a therapy dog for him, you know, Doug
and I obviously Doug is obsessed with Rob, but he
is like very attached to me. Like if I'm sitting,
he's next to me. If I'm laying, he's laying next
(24:48):
to me. And we were like Rob needs like his
you know, his soul dog. And he was actually in
his one year MRI or no six month MRI something.
It was a very important scan and so I'm like
in the back room at Vanderbilt Hospital, he's in there.
I'm like doom scrolling, you know, like the dog Doug
(25:10):
was not with me. I'm just kind of all alone.
And then I see one of those rescues that I followed,
like posted a graphic and there were three pugs on it.
Very small picture, but one of them caught my eye
and I'm like, oh my gosh, she looks like Doug.
Like that's crazy, because Doug, you know how it is
with your dogs. It's rare to see another dog that
(25:30):
like really looks like your dog. But when you do,
it's like whoa. And that happened, and so like I
start messaging the rescue, and before I knew it, Rob
woke up. It was a you know, tough tough night
for him. He had to take some medication to calm
down in the MRI, so he was conked out when
(25:52):
we got home and fell asleep at nine pm. But
here I am messaging the foster the rescue all night
I could, and I did not sleep one minute because
I was like, I just think I found our dog.
And so Rob woke up and I'm like, Hi, like,
hope you feel good, but what do you think?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:11):
And he was like, let's do it. Ending Within a
few days, she the rescue was amazing enough to fly
her to Nashville from California. We got her from Tiny
Paws Plug Rescue. They're an amazing organization. And she was
actually found abandoned in a field, because who would ever
(26:31):
do that to any animal? But she was found and
she stayed with an amazing foster for about a month.
And now she is the second love of our life,
actually the fourth love of our life because we have
two cats.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That we love.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Oh my goodness, how I mean it seems like they
get along great. Was Doug at first like, whoaa, I'm
an only child, our only dog?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, I mean there's there's always an adjustment period, you know,
but he he like totally accepts her and they do
really cute things together. And do they clean each other? No,
oh sometimes Doug has done that before. We got it
on video, so he did it once and I was like,
maybe this will be a thing. Yeah, hasn't been anything,
(27:14):
but yeah, they he's he's been doing so great. We're
really really proud of him. And she just adores him, like,
oh she obviously she can't get enough of him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
And do you feel like it's worked out? Because I
have found that in our little family at home that
our girl dog loves my husband. Of course she loves me,
but she really loves my husband and the boy dogs
really love me.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
It's exactly that, I mean crazy. That's why it's so
amazing that it worked out this way, because we knew
Rob needed his own dog. I mean, obviously dor is
mine too, but of course she is like daddy's girl,
like so cleany. She always has to be with Daddy.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
It's so cute. It's so special. It's nice because we
had similar where it was like, Okay, the dogs all
love their mom and my husband's like I love them
so much, but like they really love you, and so
it's nice when they have their own sort of like
you said, their own dog. Yeah, it's so special story.
You're so cute. He might be the start of the show.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Tory Doug is like, I'm going to use any opportunity
to that, but I like, I'm going to sleep. Uh.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
One thing, this is sort of switching topics, but one
of the things that you had talked about on your
Instagram that I had never heard anybody verbalized. I guess
I subconsciously have thought about it, but I thought it
was really interesting that you brought up was and I
don't know exactly how it way. I'm kind of paraphrasing here,
but you had gone to the park or you were
out and about and someone had saw a Doug and
(28:40):
they were like, oh wow, it's not like he's looking wow,
he's looking old or something along those lines, and you
were like, hey, like that doesn't make me feel great,
which is completely understandable. I think that's really interesting. Is
that something that you hear often?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah? So I find that, you know, it is a
very common question to people are curious how old is
your dog? You know, it's one thing with Doug, but
I think anyone that has an aging dog is going
to get these questions. And the issue isn't asking the question.
The issue is when the person or I in this case,
(29:19):
says how old he is, they make a visible reaction
that has no purpose other than to make you feel
bad and think of the worst. And so, you know,
that post was kind of just to like shed some
light on maybe, I don't know, changing the stigma around
how to react when someone asks or is told how
(29:42):
old their dog is. I mean, we don't need to
be reminded of that inevitable future. Ever, obviously it's a thing,
but like, I'm here to enjoy every single day, and
why don't we turn that into like, wow, he looks
so great or like good for you, like you must
be taking such great care of him, right, and instead
(30:04):
of oh gosh, like well mine blah blah blah, like nine,
like great, thanks, yeah, and it does happen. I mean, we,
you know, bring him out and about a lot, and
most people and his followers and fans, they don't care
about it at all. But it's usually people that are
like either skeptical of what we do or just kind
(30:25):
of want to make you feel bad. They're like they
they say that, and it never feels good. I kind
of made the reference earlier that, you know, when we
have an elderly human in our life, like a grandparent
or someone, and we ask how old they are and
you know, oh they're ninety five, we don't go oh no,
(30:48):
we go wow, that's amazing, what a long, beautiful life.
Like I hope they keep going, like keep going grandma
like hell yeah yeah, instead of like oh, like god,
my grandma died. Yeah, it's it's it doesn't it's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I think that's such a good point. It's something that
I hadn't really thought about, but I think it's so important,
like having we talk about this on the podcast Anticipatory Grief,
and a lot of my listeners really like felt that
they feel this a lot at home, and it's preparing
for your dogs passing, which of course you want to
live in the moment, but it's something that as a
dog owner you know your time is finite. It's something
(31:25):
that you think about and the last thing we need
is other people and outsiders like bringing it to our attention,
like let us just enjoy each day with them, right,
So I think that's a good like for us to
all be aware of when talking to other dog owners,
especially as senior pets.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I think, you know, chances are when you meet someone
who has their dog with them, they're obsessed with their dog,
like that's that's that's a family member, right, and only
positive things should be shared about a family member. You know,
if it were a child, they wouldn't be saying things
like that. And obviously dogs are not children, but to me,
(32:03):
my dogs are my children, so it does hurt and
it is taken personally. Yeah, but yeah, I just I
think everything should be positive and good vibes. Obviously that's
not the way work the world works. But when I
meet someone's dog, I always say good things.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Always on that note, dog looks amazing for his age,
thank you. The first thing I noticed as event I'm like, wow,
his weight is perfect. Yes, he looks amazing. Is there
anything you would attribute to how great he looks for twelve? Yeah,
So starting at a young age.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
He actually had a very severe health scare when he
was younger. We gave him it was prescribed of pill
for his allergies, and he ended up having like a
very rare reaction to it, and his blood platelet levels
went life threateningly low. And at the time, oh my
gosh story. At the time, I had no idea about nutrition,
(33:02):
about you know, the products in my home. We hadn't
dealt with any health issues ourselves, and so that really
kind of woke us up to like, what what are
we doing that we could do better or more naturally
for Doug. And so we started using you know, more
natural ingredients and products, and honestly, him not being kibble
(33:23):
fed for us personally, has made the biggest change.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
He looks amazing, Thank you, And I think there is
such a fine balance of you know, of course being
a veterinarian, we do practice Western medicine, but also like
incorporating Eastern and holistic.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
It's not one. It's not all or nothing for either side.
It's just just balance. Yes, So we give Doug. We
give Doug as much balance as possible.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Yes, and sometimes less is more and going more holistic
route is you know, it can be really important. And
whatever you guys are doing, he looks amazing.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Thank you. Tory is such a hymn.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
She's sleeping on her little noggins on you. So typically
on this podcast, we'll start with I'll have uh listeners
call in and ask questions and then I answer them. Today,
I figured we would do something a little different, and
I asked our listeners if they had any questions about Doug.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
So I'm gonna ask you some questions that people are
dying to know.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Does Doug have a morning or bedtime routine?
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Morning routine is absolutely sleeping until I make him get
out of bed. And nighttime routine is going out with
me to put the chickens away. We have fourteen chickens. Oh, okay,
that is a newer thing. We've had them for a
little over a year and it's so fun. You guys
have a little zoo. I love it. I can keep going.
(34:44):
But Rob is like, nope, you're fourteen chickens is enough.
We all'll need to check the balance. He'll come out
with me and Dori will too, and well we'll get
the chickens out and then we'll like just get super
cozy and we're all about coziness them.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Do they sleep in bed with you guys?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, okay, I figured as mussed.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah, what is his favorite activity? Sounds like it might
be sleeping eating? Eating, eating, It's that's like the best.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Time of day for Doug's his favorite snack to eat?
Oh so he loves blueberries? Oh, he loves loves blueberries.
I give him these freeze dried minnows okay, and it's
just like good protein and he just he can chomp
them all up. What else?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Watermelon? Oh isn't it cute to watch them eat watermelon?
And he how many teeth does he have left?
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Like? Is he he has a lot? On the top? Okay,
Robs holding up five? He is more than five the
bottom I means, you know, pugged. Oh yeah, more than it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I definitely know it is a constant struggle. It is
so but enough that he can still chomp on his minnows.
That's all we need. And any birthday traditions that you
do with Doug.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
We take birthdays very seriously with the dogs. Whoa, well,
we don't know Dory's birthday, Well we'll celebrate her gotcha day.
But Doug, we just like take him all over town
and give him a good day and he gets a
little cake and we're just like, you know, sing to him,
and yeah, he's very spoiled.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I had a pet psychic on previously and she had
mentioned that birthdays, that of all the pets that she
talks to, that they am getting their birthday celebrated as
one of their favorite things and that even though we
may feel like, oh my gosh, are we over the top,
do they really even know? Like they definitely know, and
they love it.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Doug.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
He loves it, And I really I think they love him.
But I'm like, maybe I'm a crazy dog mom. But
that made me feel better to hear that she said that,
Oh I love that. Do you have a nickname that
you call him at home? I always think it's funny
how you'll see like how things can spiral a little
out of control.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I am yeah, it's pretty out of control. He's Yuga
bubbus bubs Coco no no Coco, no no, what am
I missing? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
The great bubb Zo, the great Busino.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Dorry is Dory NONI. Yeah, that's a good segue. So
my mom is Spanish and it's like a term of
endearment to say Nony. It's like oh, like no, no,
no ne. It's just like a sweet thing. And that's
why our holistic dog product company is called Nony Pup.
I love that. It's just it was just like I
(37:41):
would say no kamir noni and yeah that's stup.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I love that. It's a great name. All right, let's
see any with you being an artist, I guess both
of you artists. Any songs that you sing to them
at home?
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Yes, actually, so a thing for me over the past
few years, which I never expected. I've been able to
blend like my music world and Doug and I wrote
him a song called Song for My Dog and it's
just a ukulele kind of a cappella ukulele song. And
(38:24):
it's cool because a lot of dog owners have really
resonated with it, and it's been used like six hundred
thousand times on TikTok or something gosh, and so like,
that's kind of the classic song because it just came
so easily. But I sing a lot to them. I
sing a lot to them.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
That's so nice. You got to blend your two passions together.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, it's really fun. I love that.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Okay, one last thing before you guys go, we I
am on TikTok. And there's this new viral trend going
on of who's more likely to most people are playing
it with couples or friends. What I figure to be
fun to do with Doug and Dorry. I'm in okay,
So who is more likely to finish their food first?
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Dory? Dory?
Speaker 2 (39:11):
But she does to eat oh yeah, but he like
savors it a.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Little more than her. She's like, you're done, and yeah,
like should probably get her a slow fear. Did you
even enjoy that?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Who is more likely to wake you up from storing
so loud?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Dory? Okay?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Who's more likely to poop in the house?
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Dorry.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
We're working on that, to be fair. Doug. It's had
more time with the potty training. She's like I'm a risk.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yes, who's more likely to hog the bed? Doug where
does he sleep in the bed?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
So it's very cozy, Like as soon as I lay down,
I'm like, oh, I say, assumed a position, and he
comes and he like spin probably laughing through bark. He
like spins around and then he plops right in between
my legs and everyone knows that has a pug, Like
that's the thing, okay, But throughout the night he does
(40:06):
not move and it gets hot. Yeah, and so like
if I want to flip on my side, I have
to do this whole maneuver to not disturb him. Of course,
so he's the bedthog for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
It is funny like in the middle of the night,
I'll change positions and I'm like, I will not disturb
my dog. It can't happen like ORMI I saw hole
and they are hot although they're small, they're little space heaters.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah. We have a whole like talk about bedtime routine.
It's like Dory starts the night with rob and dugs
in between my legs and then Fiona, our cat, the
white kiddie, she starts off sleeping on the corner of
the bed. But when I go to the bathroom in
the middle of the night. I have to flip on
my side and open my left arm to have a
(40:51):
little circle, and then Fiona will walk up to me
and lay in my arms a second only after I
go to the bathroom. It's just but it's like heaven,
you know, I wouldn't have it any other way, all right.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Who's more likely to ignore you when you say no?
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Oh? Doug? He's very stubborn. Oh really, Yeah. When he's on,
he's on, like when he's like doing a commercial or
you know, we're doing a video shoot, he's like freaking amazing.
But you want him to heal on a walk? Good luck?
He's like, mom, do you know who I am? He
literally just wants to smell and pee? Okay.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Who's more likely to play fetch?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Dory? Just a fetcher.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Who's more likely to console you when you're sad?
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Douggie and Dory. They're both kind of equal in that regard.
They do it in their own ways. Last, but not least.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Who's more likely to sneak a tree off the table
when you're not looking?
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Doug? Yeah, he's I mean, he's like the food food monster.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
He loves snacks, I have my little dog at home.
I like tell people that if I left him with
an endless a pie of food, he would eat himself, oh,
until he exploded.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Yeah, I think so. It's like doggy muck bangs, like
they trust they would. They would just eat until they can't.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
I can't eat anymore. Oh, I hope we got that
Dory snoring so loud. She's like, I'll show them amazing. Well,
thank you guys so much for coming on. It was
so nice to finally meet you guys in person. You're
so welcome. I love Doug so much. And if you
guys aren't following Doug already, you're crazy and you must.
(42:30):
His handle is it's jug the Pug.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
You're welcome. That was such a great interview. I loved
having Doug and his sister Dory here.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
They were so cute.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
They were so cute, and all of you listeners out there,
if you were hearing snorts and snores and farts and
all the things, that was them really enjoying it.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
We definitely picked up a lot of their their sounds,
but they were adorable.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
That's just pug life.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yes, you get the sounds and they're so cute, and
Doug was sleeping most of the time. I think this
studio has the effect of like putting dogs to sleep.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
You know what, I've noticed, ever since you had that
pet psychic on, all the animals are so chill when
they're in this space. I don't know what she did, and.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
She said she did some reiki on Saya, so maybe
she like left her.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
I think call me energy.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Because Doug was so active before he got up here.
In the second he sat down.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
He was like night night, good night, good night. I
loved him.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
God, he was able to take a little snooze.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
All right, Well we'll jump right into our paw and order,
all right, in honor of Doug the Pug, I made
this paw and order addition for breaky cephalic breeds. Those
are gonna be our smushed face breeds, like our Frenchies,
Pugs of course, English bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Boxers, shitsus which
(43:59):
Morgan has one.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Up of sure do, and she snores a lot.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
They are little snores and they are so stinking cute.
And I know I've talked about this one hundred times,
but they just cannot breathe as well as dogs with
long snouts can so any dog can overheat, but rereaky
cephalic dogs are way more likely to overheat. So on
days where it's over eighty degrees, if it's super humid outside,
I highly recommend not going outside for long, long periods
(44:25):
of time. If you have to go outside, like let's
say you're on a patio or you're hanging out, make
sure they have access to shade and plenty of water.
I would avoid long walks. Don't play fetch. It can
go from like a really fun afternoon where everything seems
hunky dory, and then to all of a sudden, they're
not able to regulate their body temperature. They're overheating, and
(44:45):
it's a life threatening emergency.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
I've been able to tell this recently with my shit too.
Andy will go on walks around my apartment and we
make it maybe halfway around my apartment building, just my building, right,
and I'm like, okay, I'm picking you up and we're
going back now, and.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I'm gonna get you a stroller.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, and they won't. I mean,
they'll be usually the young ones too. They're tails wagging,
they're bouncing around. Oh I'm super happy, and then all
of a sudden they become too hot. They can't sweat
like we can.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Andy immediately comes in the house and she just lays
flat out Superman pretty much and just has the cool
floor on her stomach and then seems to get it
back together. But yeah, it's worrisome.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
It is worrisome, and it's better to just be preventative
and keep a really close eye on it and just
know if it's hot out, if you're laying your hand
on the concrete or cement and you know it feels
very warm to you, that's what their paws are touching,
that's what their bellies touching when they're laying down, and
that's a recipe for them to overheat pretty quickly.
Speaker 3 (45:43):
Is there a sign when it's like, okay, they're not
cooling themselves down, maybe I should take them into the vet.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
If they're a respiratory rate like let's say you were
outside and now you're back inside and you've been inside
for a couple of minutes and their respiratory rate is
still really high. They're panting, they're you know, drooling from
the mouth a lot of times. Their gum color or
their tongue color will change. So if you see any
like purplish color, if it's not that like bright healthy pink,
(46:09):
that's like no boin, no sos, emergency, go to the
hospital right away.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
Got it is that button still right over there, the
one on the board. Yeah, okay, just checking.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Producing and producer, Morgan.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
You just want to make sure you're glad to hear
capturing this, you.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Know, Yeah, this is very important information, all right.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Number two, if you are planning to own a break
ecephalic breed, then be prepared to wipe. My friends, there's
a lot of wiping involved.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Wipe.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
You have to wipe those nasal folds, those cute little
wrinkles and folds all around their nose and their eyes
are adorable, but they fill up with gunk. They get infected,
and you want to start wiping from day one. You
want to get them used to it as a puppy.
And Morgan's like, I have never done this in my life.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Once in my life have I wiped.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I will say shitzuos, although they're breakie saphalac, they tend
to have less folds than like a frenchie or a pug.
Like they really I mean as you saw with Doug
and Dory, like they have some pretty thick nasal folds.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Yeah, I think Andy's a little better off.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Yeah, maybe some less folds. So you're not don worry.
We're not owner shaming you, I feel it.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
Uh so yeah, be prepared to wipe. You got to
like open those folds up, get in there with your wipes,
and really really clean them out. Unscented baby wipes are best,
but if they are getting infected, if they're red, if
they're stinky, you probably want to talk to your vet
and get some medicated wipes.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
Imagine someone just tunes in the podcast like right here
at this moment, and you're like, open those folds, get
in there, white, get on, and then in there. Okay.
Speaker 2 (47:46):
And on that note, a lot of them have quirkscrew tails,
like our bulldogs are Bostons, and those have a lot
of folds around them too, So you want to clean
out those little butt folds around their tails too.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
Oh my gosh, such high maintenance.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
It is not a glamorous job, but someone's got to
do it and it's important. So just start your wipe
fund right now. If you're going to own a break
eecephalic breed.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
And get in those folds, y'all.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Get in those folds all right, last, but not least
if they are coughing or sneezing excessively. Obviously a sneeze
here and there is not the end of the world.
But if you're like, hey, my dog's sneezing a lot,
there's not coming out of its nose, take it to
the vet right away. Any sign of a respiratory infection,
and these pets that already can't really oxygenate that well
should be taken really seriously. Sometimes our dogs that have
(48:33):
a mile cough, we can give them a day or
so see if they can clear it on their own,
just like when you and I get a cold. But
with a break acephalic, it's like nope, red flag, straight
to the vet.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
I've been lucky there too. Andy hasn't done a lot
of that. She had a little reverse sneezing spell for
a few weeks and then that went away.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
M hm.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
And we've been smooth sailing since.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
We're going to do a whole thing on reverse sneezing
for our listeners out there. I've had so many people
ask me about this, so we will get to that,
but yes, you are very lucky and that you haven't
had that issue. Yeah, coughing is Coughing is no bueno,
especially in our breaky syphlex So that's it. That's our
last poll in order of the day. It was such
a great episode. Loved having Doug here, Love having Morgan,
(49:14):
producer Morgan President Morgan here. Oh my gosh, the president
of the Nashville Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (49:19):
Join more often. This has been a lot of fun
and I feel like I can just use you to
ask all my questions.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
I think. So this is your first appearance, but it
won't be your last day.
Speaker 3 (49:28):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
And for all the listeners out there, if you have
any questions, you can always DM me on Instagram at
doctor Josie Vett. You can click the link in my
bio to record any questions you have for the podcast,
and as always, please rate, review, and subscribe.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
Five stars really help a new podcast. So if you
could spare ten seconds just to hit I have stars
on all the platforms you listen, that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
You'll take all the help we can get and we'll
see you next week.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Thanks for tuning in.
You're listening to in the Vets Office with doctor Josie Horschak.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, welcome to in the Vets Office. I am
your host, Doctor Josie, and I am so excited about
this week's episode. We have the infamous og social media sensation,
Doug the Pug coming on. He I'm pretty sure is
the most followed dog in the world, and we have
produced a Morgan here today.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hello. Not nearest important as Doug the Pug.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Doug the Pug takes the cake, but you're a pretty
close second.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So before we jump into our interview with Doug, we
are going to do our case of the week. So
this case happened back when I was living in downtown Chicago.
I was a fairly young veterinarian. It was just another
boring day in the office when all of a sudden,
this young man comes in very shaken up, in shambles.
(01:03):
He had been out on his patio drinking his morning coffee,
reading his newspaper, and all of a sudden a cat
came falling out of the sky, Oh my god, and
onto the table of his patio. This cat lived twelve
stories above him, and his owner had often let him
out onto the balcony. He would just kind of sunbathe
and hang. But on this day a bird flew by
(01:25):
and he got a wild hair and decided he was
going to go catch that bird. So he jumped up
onto the railing, made the leap of faith, and gravity
took over and he went down twelve stories to this
man's patio.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Did this cat live?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
This cat lived, So when they say cats have nine lives,
they truly mean it. The things that cats indoor and
then come out on the other side is amazing. This
is just one of the examples. The cat came in.
It was in shock. It had a broken jaw, a
broken leg.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Very when you say it's in shock, what is an
animal in shock?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Look like being in shock is a medical term meeting
like your blood pressure is affected, your heart rates affected,
you're dehydrated. So usually they have like really pale gums,
their heart rate can be through the roof, their blood
pressure is low. So he kind of checked all those boxes.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Do you immediately look at this cat and go hmmm,
oh it's aron great, or he's got a fighting chance.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
This is uh yeah. I was like, this is probably
not going to end up well. But you never know
it's a cat. I'm telling you, they are survivors. Survivors.
So the owner wasn't there. So the guy you know,
brings the cat, comes running to the clinic. He was
only just a couple high rises away.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Good on him for bringing the cat that wasn't his
into the office.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yes, he puts that bill And funny enough, the cat
was one of our patients. So he just happened to
bring it to the right clinic odds. And we immediately
start stabilizing it and taking X rays and doing all
the things, giving it oxygen and fluids and doing life
saving procedures on it. And and somehow the owner, I
can't remember if he got a hold of the owner,
but the owner finds out, she comes in and we
(03:06):
were able to you know, he had to have surgery
on his broken bones, but we were able to save
his life.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
First off, claps for doctor Josie and I don't want
to pet parents. Shame. But the owner wasn't home and
they let their cat on the balcony.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
The owner was home, but it's like you leave your
little sliding door open. A lot a lot of owners
do this in the city. We saw this all the time.
In Chicago, where you leave the balcony open, pets come
in and out. Even here in Nashville, I see it
and they kind of come and go at their leisure,
usually while the parents home, And ninety nine percent of
the time they're fine.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
But that one percent do you.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Go home that day and just feel like you really
rock that shit?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I go home that day and I'm like, oh my gosh,
that was I don't know. I don't think I rocked
that shit. I think about the owner. I'm like, gosh,
they must feel so guilty. You think about the man
drinking his coffee now as PTSD of cats falling out
of this. Sometimes I'll pat myself on the back every
once in a while, but for the most part, I'm
like reeling from how emotional everyone else must feel.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I bet it took that man a few weeks to
be able to go back on his patio after that.
Talk about the PTSD.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Absolutely, you're getting the therapists after this. So now I was, Yeah,
I was a reminder for me, if you're sending your
pets out onto the balcony, please keep a very very
very very close eye on them. And uh, I guess
if you're sitting on the tenth floor. Maybe we're a helmet.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Be careful.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Oh man, that's a really great pace of the week.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was, And now we'll just dive right into our
our interview. So, as I said, we have Doug the
Pug coming on and his sister Dory. She's a new
addition to the family, and of course his mom, Leslie,
who will be answering the questions for him. Doug is,
as you know, the og social media pet sensation.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
He has paved the way for.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
The likes of like Mispeaches and all of these you
know pets that we've come to know and love on
Instagram and TikTok. He has over eighteen million followers across
his social media platforms and he is probably the most
famous dog in the world.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So it's more successful than we'll probably ever be.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Oh he is more. We will never come a tenth
of us clothes. That's the successful bug walked.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
So Alex Earl could run exactly exactly, and that's the
perfect segue. We're gonna take a quick break and when
we get back, we'll have Doug here.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Awesome all right.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
In the Vets office, we have Doug the Pug, who's
here today with his mom, Leslie, and his baby sister Dorry.
I'm so excited to have you guys.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Story's podcast debut. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I mean, Doug is a he is a veteran in this,
He's like, I'm over it. But Dory's here. She is
ready to go, so I'm excited. It's her first podcast.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
She's so we're probably gonna hear a lot of snores today.
Doug is like in total chill mode next to me,
and Dorry is all about this.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
She's at attention, She's ready to go. Well, welcome. I'm
so excited to have you here. I have been following
Doug for many years, and I knew that he was
probably like one of the most famous dogs in the world.
But when I was researching today's interview, I didn't realize
just how impressive his resume is. So I'm going to
(06:19):
read a snippet of this for the listeners out there
who probably also follow him, but just like didn't realize
how big of a deal he is. So Doug has
won two People's Choice Awards. He starred in a Super
Bowl commercial. He has a New York Times best selling book,
a top selling calendar. He has his own merchandise and
(06:39):
holistic pet care line. He has starred in music videos
for Katie Perry, Dncee, and Fallout Boy. He has been
kissed by the one and only Justin Bieber, and the
mayor of Nashville has declared his birthday, which is May twentieth,
as the Doug the Pug Day in the city.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
That's wild. It's wild, I mean that is crazy. Yeah,
It's been a very fun and insane ride that never
ceases to blow our mind. Sometimes I wake up in
the morning and I'm like, what happened?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like, Yeah, can you just to kind of like rewind
all the way back to the beginning?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
How did this all come to me? So? I used
to actually work a few buildings over Okay, on music row.
I went to Belmont and that's what moved me to Nashville.
And I had dreams of working in the music industry
and doing marketing and PR and like graphic design and
branding and stuff for bands. And so I got a
job doing that at a small record label artist management company.
(07:40):
And I got Doug when I was a junior at Belmont,
and so I was in college in college, and so
I was going to work on music row and then
I would come home and I had my dream pug
who loved getting dressed up and loved doing activities with
me around town. And it became this kind of true
(08:00):
where I would get home from work and go out
around Nashville and take pictures with him. This was in
the very beginning of Instagram. I think this was twenty
thirteen when I started posting him, and so I just
did it for fun on my personal Instagram. I mean,
no one even really had like my friends didn't even
really have it. It was mostly Facebook at that time.
(08:21):
And I would post him and say, Doug the pug
doing that Doug and I blah blah blah, and people
just wanted to see Doug. So if I posted anything
on my personal Instagram that wasn't Doug, people were like,
where's Doug, Like, we don't really care. They just wanted
to see Doug. And so I started getting a little
more creative and doing I started getting a little more
(08:45):
creative and doing you know, things that were on trend,
like holiday type things, or if a famous artist was
coming into Nashville. I would like play off that and
big Instagram pug accounts that had all these followers the
time when they would take our photos and post them
and tag us, they would get so many likes, and
(09:07):
it was this rush of like, WHOA, that's so cool
a photo that I took and a concept that I
came up with, and the styling and everything, like people
are resonating with this, they like it. And again this
is very condensed. But I ended up switching my account
from me to just dug and putting more effort and
(09:29):
time into it. And he reached one hundred thousand followers
on Instagram, which was insane and huge and amazing at
the time, and we had a little party and I
was just honestly a very fun hobby. It got me,
brought me a lot of joy, and it brought other
people joy. And I would be lying if I didn't
say that. At that time, I saw it being something
(09:51):
like what it is now. I had this gut feeling
to pursue it, and so I actually when he hit
one hundred thousand followers, I put in I noticed to
quit my job. Wow, and people thought I was crazy.
I kind of lied to most people and said I'm
starting my own graphic design business because I didn't want
to be like so I have this dog that has
on Instagram, and I think he would make a really cute,
(10:14):
stuffy animal. But it happened as soon as I put
my notice in for that job. At that one hundred
thousand party, we had a pug balloon left over, and
Rob and I were just dating at the time, and
he was on tour and so all by myself, I
went to Dragon Park in Hillsborough Village, which was right
(10:36):
by my old apartment, and I tied the pug balloon
to Doug. And again, he doesn't care about anything, so
he was all about it. He was running around the
park with this pug balloon attached to him and I
sent the footage to Rob and I said, can you
put a cute song over this? Can you put like people?
Let me tell you about my best friend, Like, let's
make the pug balloon his best friend. And I posted
(10:58):
it to Doug's Facebook, his Instagram, and then I made
him a Twitter because I was like, what would a
band need, Like if I were to help one of
my artists at the label, what would they need? And
so I put it on all these things and I
had a logo for Doug and I took it very seriously.
But that night I posted it, didn't think anything of it.
I woke up and I looked on Facebook. He had
(11:20):
three thousand likes at the time on Facebook, and the
next day he had like fifteen thousand. I'm like, what happened?
And I looked at the video and had twenty million views.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Wow, and this is the one hundred k party where
he's running around with a pug bull.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yes, Like right after that party, I took a little
video with a leftover balloon and I was like, whoa.
All of a sudden, it was real okay, you know,
And by the end of that week he had a
million likes followers on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Doug was like, my mom just quit her job. I
got to go to one.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
He was like, let's go. And so it was this
crazy feeling of like I felt very ready for it,
because I had already kind of set it up for success,
but for it to actually happened and for me to
have the free time to do it. So Rob luckily
got home from tour right around then, and we just
(12:10):
started making videos. I mean every day we were coming
up with like, let's dress dug up as Harry Potter
and call him Harry Pugger. Or you know all these
popular TV shows The Walking Dead. I dressed him as
a zombie and we were crazy people running around Radnor
Lake with our dog with a dressed as a zombie
(12:32):
and like but we didn't care. It was just this
very exhilarating time. And within a few months we had
a book deal and later that year we were going
on a book tour all over the world. We went
to London.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Did he hit his first million followers that year?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Oh? Yeah, so he on Facebook went from three thousand
to a million within like a few weeks. Okay, on Instagram.
Instagram's a harder platform to grow, so I think it
took a little longer. But honestly, Justin Bieber posting. He
posted two pictures of Doug. His label actually hit us
(13:12):
up and was like, hey, remember the Justin Bieber era
of like sorry and what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It was like the best era, take me back?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And he was like on the Calvin Klein ads, they
asked Doug to be a part of a countdown for
how many days until? What do you mean? Okay? And
so I took pictures of Doug wearing Calvin kleins and
that little sign that said eight days what do you mean?
And Justin posted two of those photos and tagged Doug.
We went up like one hundred thousand followers in a day,
(13:43):
I bet, and it was. It's just still so crazy
to even look back on that and to see what
it is now, and just it's been the most amazing
fun ride and Doug loves every second of it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
One thing that you said that I just feel like
sitting here and talking with you is I feel like
there's Instagram influencers and TikTokers where you're like, Okay, this
is like their job and you can kind of tell
like it just seems so organic and you just enjoy
I mean, obviously he's like your child, so you enjoy
doing it. He loves to do it, and like that
just really translates. I thank you on his page is
why he's so successful.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I really appreciate that. I feel like, obviously social media
has changed exponentially. We've been doing it full time for
almost ten years and it's changed so much. And I
think every day I have to make the conscious choice
and Rob as well to do it because we love it, right,
(14:40):
Because we would have a completely different approach to social
media with Doug if we were doing it just for
the followers and the clout at this point. Yeah, and
so it's honestly become so much more laid back, and
we're a lot happier because of it because we're just
sharing like literally what we want to share doing anyway there. Yeah,
(15:02):
we feel like we have nothing else to prove at
this point, right, and it's it's just like truly for
fun and to like we still have so many big
dreams obviously, but his happiness and our happiness is like
most important.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Of course, does he have an agent or do you
guys do everything?
Speaker 1 (15:32):
He does have an agent And that's a funny story too.
So again, when this video went viral, it was March
of twenty fifteen, and there were no the term influencer
wasn't even a thing. Content creator wasn't even a thing.
He's really the og. He's the og dog, celebrity dog.
(15:54):
But we didn't know what to do because it was like, Okay,
we're having these brands that want to collaborate with us,
but like we I guess we need to set up
a business like for our dog, Like okay, I think
we can do this. Like again, people thought we were
crazy and we met our agent at a wedding and
she was working in the music industry but came from
(16:16):
the agency world, and she was like, I think I
think we could do this, guys, Like what if we
just did a six month trial contract. I'll pitch you
to the brands, I'll negotiate for you, Like, let's just
see what happens. And her name's Toy. She has been
with us for almost ten years now and she's now
the president of Talent at Whaler Agency, which is like
(16:37):
the biggest creator agency, And she was just invited to
the White House to speak in front of the President
about content creators and like raising like rights for content
creators and helping with like things like insurance, like treating
us as real business owners. Yeah, and so even she's
evolved so much. So. Yeah, we have a small but
(17:00):
mighty team and ninety percent of those people have been
with us since the beginning, before it was even a thing.
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Well, that speaks a lot to probably working with you guys,
and thank you of course Doug too. Has there been
I mean, from all the concerts and red carpets and
sporting events, has there ever been a moment where you're like,
I cannot believe that. I'm sure it happens all the time,
but like, what is the moment where you're like, I
can't believe this is happening.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
So this is my go to answer. I have a
lot of moments where I'm just like, it feels very
out of body. I've had to learn that before we
walk into something where we're like, Okay, this is crazy,
I have to like be as present as possible because afterwards,
when it becomes just a memory, it's it's just so weird,
like did I just black out? So Shakira flew us
(17:45):
to Barcelona, Sony Latin, her label hit us up and
they were like, we want Doug to promote her song
El perro Fiel. And it was like a natural thing
and they're like can you come to bar Salona next week?
And we're like okay, and they're like, oh yeah, and
you're gonna shoot with Shakira and this time, this place is.
(18:10):
It ended up being at her house, wow, And it
was so low key and laid back that we actually
like got to spend the day with her amazing, and
she was so lovely and so beautiful and kind and
loved Doug, and Doug was playing with her kids. And
that's probably the most pinch me moment is I have goosebump. Yeah,
(18:32):
being in Shakira's mansion looking over Barcelona and it being
like a genuine moment. I think that's the cool thing
about Doug is when we do meet these people that,
like a lot of them are my heroes. Like, you know,
I grew up as a musician, my husband too, So
like when we get to meet people from the past
(18:56):
that we listened to, it's really cool because when they
meet Doug, it to them is like a breath of
fresh air to meet a dog, you know, like they're
not on right, they are just solely excited to meet
a dog, right, And so we get to kind of
see people for who they are. Oh high doors do.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Has jumped off of my chair and now she's like,
I want to see another you can hang some of baby.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh there we go. There we go, two pugs in
that chair. Good shot.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Okay, it's funny you say that because I've said that
on this podcast. When I interview celebrities or musicians, they're
always talking about their jobs and their career and they're this,
but when you talk about their pets, Oh, they immediately softened,
and it's just like a different side of them. I
think it's like such a special side that most people
don't get to see.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, it's the best of us. It totally takes off
that veil. And that's like been one of the coolest
parts is again meeting people that we grew up listening
to and realizing that they're just humans. They're just like us,
just like us, and they love it. If they don't
love animals, that's the red flag.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
We have nothing in common, Like I can't really, it
is the ultimate red flag.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Obviously, he's a very chill guy. I mean he's like
half asleep on the chair as we speak right now.
Story's laying on top of this is what we call
pug piling. I love it, and they are the masters
of it. And Doug just doesn't mind. And he's just like,
come on top, He's here for it. Has there ever
been I mean, clearly he enjoys the attention. He's very
laid back. Has there ever been an experience or a
(20:29):
circumstance We're like, hmm, I don't know if he's really
liking this, Like I kind of feel like I need
to step in there.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Have been parts of like meet and greets when it
just gets to be too much and I pull him away. Obviously,
his safety and happiness is number one. And the nice
thing is that we've figured it out over the years,
like what is appropriate and what's not, because you know,
I feel like Doug and I are so cosmically intertwined,
(20:58):
to say the least, where we both pick up on
each other's energy to a fault, where like, if I'm
really stressed, Doug is not going to be feeling all
that day, and so I have to be very cognizant
and in that same breath, I can pick up on
if something is wrong and you know, it doesn't ever
really happened, but like, you know, if there is a
(21:20):
situation where I'm like, Doug doesn't like this, or you know,
if there's another animal on set or something that like
is not making him feel good or bad, then I
pull him away. And we've learned to like have those
boundaries for him and advocate for him like that.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Sin They're so cute, They're amazing. We're getting this on video. Yeah,
I think that. You know, it's so interesting when owners
come into me and they're telling me how their dog
is sick and they'll be like no, like I know
they're not doing it right now, but I promise you
they're sick. And I look at them and I say,
you know your dog better than anybody, like I trust you,
And so I think there's such a It's I know
we didn't birth them, but it sure feels like we
(21:59):
birthed them. I joke that I've birthed my dogs, and
I get one hundred percent what you're saying, like how
you feel like you are like soul twins and you
understand like when each other's off. So he's lucky that
he has a mom that advocates for him in that sense.
He probably would not have, you know, had the long
of a successful career if you didn't Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Any crazy dms that he's gotten on Instagram, are they
all pretty tame?
Speaker 1 (22:25):
We've had some interesting people for sure, Like people have
offered to purchase him, to purchase him, yes, feel like
there's not a price chat and it's it's kind of
insane to see.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
That's really crazy to me. It's very are they going
out numbers.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
It's very strange or like there's a lot of people
that think that. It's like almost like they live in
our house. It's like they know all these things. I'm like,
how do you know that? Like I've never even posted that.
It's mostly like people just loving them and being sweet.
I think again, the crazy part is like when someone
shows up in our dms that's like from our past,
(23:03):
like when I was young, you know, Backstreet Boys, biggest deal.
Like still, I'll listen to it and it brings me
right back. And then Nick Carter's just like, hey, can
Doug come? I want to hang out with him before
the show? Can we make a video? And it's it's
just very wild to get a message like that, and
then you realize that it really was him. It wasn't
(23:25):
like his agent or manager or something. Right. Oh, Dory's
arm is literally around Doug.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
This is a perfect segue because I was gonna ask.
I know, Dory is a new addition to the family. She,
from what I have seen, was rescued. I'm really interested
in how she came into your family. How is Doug
feeling about having a sister.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yeah, so we had talked about getting Doug a sibling
for quite some time, and we didn't know what it
would look like. I knew that I wanted to rescue,
and I followed a ton of Hug rescues and was
just like, Okay, I'm going to leave it up to
the powers that be and if I see a dog
(24:07):
that I know, when I the moment I see the photo,
I know that's our dog. We'll pursue it, we'll figure
it out. I've just got to let it go and
see what happens. And it was a crazy kind of
six seven, eight months of waiting. So not to get
too heavy on here, but Rob, Doug's dad, my husband,
(24:28):
was diagnosed with MS almost a year ago, and so
our decision to add another dog into the family was
partly as a therapy dog for him, you know, Doug
and I obviously Doug is obsessed with Rob, but he
is like very attached to me. Like if I'm sitting,
he's next to me. If I'm laying, he's laying next
(24:48):
to me. And we were like Rob needs like his
you know, his soul dog. And he was actually in
his one year MRI or no six month MRI something.
It was a very important scan and so I'm like
in the back room at Vanderbilt Hospital, he's in there.
I'm like doom scrolling, you know, like the dog Doug
(25:10):
was not with me. I'm just kind of all alone.
And then I see one of those rescues that I followed,
like posted a graphic and there were three pugs on it.
Very small picture, but one of them caught my eye
and I'm like, oh my gosh, she looks like Doug.
Like that's crazy, because Doug, you know how it is
with your dogs. It's rare to see another dog that
(25:30):
like really looks like your dog. But when you do,
it's like whoa. And that happened, and so like I
start messaging the rescue, and before I knew it, Rob
woke up. It was a you know, tough tough night
for him. He had to take some medication to calm
down in the MRI, so he was conked out when
(25:52):
we got home and fell asleep at nine pm. But
here I am messaging the foster the rescue all night
I could, and I did not sleep one minute because
I was like, I just think I found our dog.
And so Rob woke up and I'm like, Hi, like,
hope you feel good, but what do you think?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:11):
And he was like, let's do it. Ending Within a
few days, she the rescue was amazing enough to fly
her to Nashville from California. We got her from Tiny
Paws Plug Rescue. They're an amazing organization. And she was
actually found abandoned in a field, because who would ever
(26:31):
do that to any animal? But she was found and
she stayed with an amazing foster for about a month.
And now she is the second love of our life,
actually the fourth love of our life because we have
two cats.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That we love.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Oh my goodness, how I mean it seems like they
get along great. Was Doug at first like, whoaa, I'm
an only child, our only dog?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, I mean there's there's always an adjustment period, you know,
but he he like totally accepts her and they do
really cute things together. And do they clean each other? No,
oh sometimes Doug has done that before. We got it
on video, so he did it once and I was like,
maybe this will be a thing. Yeah, hasn't been anything,
(27:14):
but yeah, they he's he's been doing so great. We're
really really proud of him. And she just adores him, like,
oh she obviously she can't get enough of him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
And do you feel like it's worked out? Because I
have found that in our little family at home that
our girl dog loves my husband. Of course she loves me,
but she really loves my husband and the boy dogs
really love me.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
It's exactly that, I mean crazy. That's why it's so
amazing that it worked out this way, because we knew
Rob needed his own dog. I mean, obviously dor is
mine too, but of course she is like daddy's girl,
like so cleany. She always has to be with Daddy.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
It's so cute. It's so special. It's nice because we
had similar where it was like, Okay, the dogs all
love their mom and my husband's like I love them
so much, but like they really love you, and so
it's nice when they have their own sort of like
you said, their own dog. Yeah, it's so special story.
You're so cute. He might be the start of the show.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Tory Doug is like, I'm going to use any opportunity
to that, but I like, I'm going to sleep. Uh.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
One thing, this is sort of switching topics, but one
of the things that you had talked about on your
Instagram that I had never heard anybody verbalized. I guess
I subconsciously have thought about it, but I thought it
was really interesting that you brought up was and I
don't know exactly how it way. I'm kind of paraphrasing here,
but you had gone to the park or you were
out and about and someone had saw a Doug and
(28:40):
they were like, oh wow, it's not like he's looking wow,
he's looking old or something along those lines, and you
were like, hey, like that doesn't make me feel great,
which is completely understandable. I think that's really interesting. Is
that something that you hear often?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Yeah? So I find that, you know, it is a
very common question to people are curious how old is
your dog? You know, it's one thing with Doug, but
I think anyone that has an aging dog is going
to get these questions. And the issue isn't asking the question.
The issue is when the person or I in this case,
(29:19):
says how old he is, they make a visible reaction
that has no purpose other than to make you feel
bad and think of the worst. And so, you know,
that post was kind of just to like shed some
light on maybe, I don't know, changing the stigma around
how to react when someone asks or is told how
(29:42):
old their dog is. I mean, we don't need to
be reminded of that inevitable future. Ever, obviously it's a thing,
but like, I'm here to enjoy every single day, and
why don't we turn that into like, wow, he looks
so great or like good for you, like you must
be taking such great care of him, right, and instead
(30:04):
of oh gosh, like well mine blah blah blah, like nine,
like great, thanks, yeah, and it does happen. I mean, we,
you know, bring him out and about a lot, and
most people and his followers and fans, they don't care
about it at all. But it's usually people that are
like either skeptical of what we do or just kind
(30:25):
of want to make you feel bad. They're like they
they say that, and it never feels good. I kind
of made the reference earlier that, you know, when we
have an elderly human in our life, like a grandparent
or someone, and we ask how old they are and
you know, oh they're ninety five, we don't go oh no,
(30:48):
we go wow, that's amazing, what a long, beautiful life.
Like I hope they keep going, like keep going grandma
like hell yeah yeah, instead of like oh, like god,
my grandma died. Yeah, it's it's it doesn't it's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I think that's such a good point. It's something that
I hadn't really thought about, but I think it's so important,
like having we talk about this on the podcast Anticipatory Grief,
and a lot of my listeners really like felt that
they feel this a lot at home, and it's preparing
for your dogs passing, which of course you want to
live in the moment, but it's something that as a
dog owner you know your time is finite. It's something
(31:25):
that you think about and the last thing we need
is other people and outsiders like bringing it to our attention,
like let us just enjoy each day with them, right,
So I think that's a good like for us to
all be aware of when talking to other dog owners,
especially as senior pets.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I think, you know, chances are when you meet someone
who has their dog with them, they're obsessed with their dog,
like that's that's that's a family member, right, and only
positive things should be shared about a family member. You know,
if it were a child, they wouldn't be saying things
like that. And obviously dogs are not children, but to me,
(32:03):
my dogs are my children, so it does hurt and
it is taken personally. Yeah, but yeah, I just I
think everything should be positive and good vibes. Obviously that's
not the way work the world works. But when I
meet someone's dog, I always say good things.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Always on that note, dog looks amazing for his age,
thank you. The first thing I noticed as event I'm like, wow,
his weight is perfect. Yes, he looks amazing. Is there
anything you would attribute to how great he looks for twelve? Yeah,
So starting at a young age.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
He actually had a very severe health scare when he
was younger. We gave him it was prescribed of pill
for his allergies, and he ended up having like a
very rare reaction to it, and his blood platelet levels
went life threateningly low. And at the time, oh my
gosh story. At the time, I had no idea about nutrition,
(33:02):
about you know, the products in my home. We hadn't
dealt with any health issues ourselves, and so that really
kind of woke us up to like, what what are
we doing that we could do better or more naturally
for Doug. And so we started using you know, more
natural ingredients and products, and honestly, him not being kibble
(33:23):
fed for us personally, has made the biggest change.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
He looks amazing, Thank you, And I think there is
such a fine balance of you know, of course being
a veterinarian, we do practice Western medicine, but also like
incorporating Eastern and holistic.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
It's not one. It's not all or nothing for either side.
It's just just balance. Yes, So we give Doug. We
give Doug as much balance as possible.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Yes, and sometimes less is more and going more holistic
route is you know, it can be really important. And
whatever you guys are doing, he looks amazing.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Thank you. Tory is such a hymn.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
She's sleeping on her little noggins on you. So typically
on this podcast, we'll start with I'll have uh listeners
call in and ask questions and then I answer them. Today,
I figured we would do something a little different, and
I asked our listeners if they had any questions about Doug.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Perfect.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
So I'm gonna ask you some questions that people are
dying to know.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Does Doug have a morning or bedtime routine?
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Morning routine is absolutely sleeping until I make him get
out of bed. And nighttime routine is going out with
me to put the chickens away. We have fourteen chickens. Oh, okay,
that is a newer thing. We've had them for a
little over a year and it's so fun. You guys
have a little zoo. I love it. I can keep going.
(34:44):
But Rob is like, nope, you're fourteen chickens is enough.
We all'll need to check the balance. He'll come out
with me and Dori will too, and well we'll get
the chickens out and then we'll like just get super
cozy and we're all about coziness them.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Do they sleep in bed with you guys?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah, okay, I figured as mussed.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah, what is his favorite activity? Sounds like it might
be sleeping eating? Eating, eating, It's that's like the best.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Time of day for Doug's his favorite snack to eat?
Oh so he loves blueberries? Oh, he loves loves blueberries.
I give him these freeze dried minnows okay, and it's
just like good protein and he just he can chomp
them all up. What else?
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Watermelon? Oh isn't it cute to watch them eat watermelon?
And he how many teeth does he have left?
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Like? Is he he has a lot? On the top? Okay,
Robs holding up five? He is more than five the
bottom I means, you know, pugged. Oh yeah, more than it.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I definitely know it is a constant struggle. It is
so but enough that he can still chomp on his minnows.
That's all we need. And any birthday traditions that you
do with Doug.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
We take birthdays very seriously with the dogs. Whoa, well,
we don't know Dory's birthday, Well we'll celebrate her gotcha day.
But Doug, we just like take him all over town
and give him a good day and he gets a
little cake and we're just like, you know, sing to him,
and yeah, he's very spoiled.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I had a pet psychic on previously and she had
mentioned that birthdays, that of all the pets that she
talks to, that they am getting their birthday celebrated as
one of their favorite things and that even though we
may feel like, oh my gosh, are we over the top,
do they really even know? Like they definitely know, and
they love it.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Doug.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
He loves it, And I really I think they love him.
But I'm like, maybe I'm a crazy dog mom. But
that made me feel better to hear that she said that,
Oh I love that. Do you have a nickname that
you call him at home? I always think it's funny
how you'll see like how things can spiral a little
out of control.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I am yeah, it's pretty out of control. He's Yuga
bubbus bubs Coco no no Coco, no no, what am
I missing? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
The great bubb Zo, the great Busino.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Dorry is Dory NONI. Yeah, that's a good segue. So
my mom is Spanish and it's like a term of
endearment to say Nony. It's like oh, like no, no,
no ne. It's just like a sweet thing. And that's
why our holistic dog product company is called Nony Pup.
I love that. It's just it was just like I
(37:41):
would say no kamir noni and yeah that's stup.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
I love that. It's a great name. All right, let's
see any with you being an artist, I guess both
of you artists. Any songs that you sing to them
at home?
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Yes, actually, so a thing for me over the past
few years, which I never expected. I've been able to
blend like my music world and Doug and I wrote
him a song called Song for My Dog and it's
just a ukulele kind of a cappella ukulele song. And
(38:24):
it's cool because a lot of dog owners have really
resonated with it, and it's been used like six hundred
thousand times on TikTok or something gosh, and so like,
that's kind of the classic song because it just came
so easily. But I sing a lot to them. I
sing a lot to them.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
That's so nice. You got to blend your two passions together.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, it's really fun. I love that.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Okay, one last thing before you guys go, we I
am on TikTok. And there's this new viral trend going
on of who's more likely to most people are playing
it with couples or friends. What I figure to be
fun to do with Doug and Dorry. I'm in okay,
So who is more likely to finish their food first?
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Dory? Dory?
Speaker 2 (39:11):
But she does to eat oh yeah, but he like
savors it a.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Little more than her. She's like, you're done, and yeah,
like should probably get her a slow fear. Did you
even enjoy that?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
Who is more likely to wake you up from storing
so loud?
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Dory? Okay?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Who's more likely to poop in the house?
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Dorry.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
We're working on that, to be fair. Doug. It's had
more time with the potty training. She's like I'm a risk.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yes, who's more likely to hog the bed? Doug where
does he sleep in the bed?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
So it's very cozy, Like as soon as I lay down,
I'm like, oh, I say, assumed a position, and he
comes and he like spin probably laughing through bark. He
like spins around and then he plops right in between
my legs and everyone knows that has a pug, Like
that's the thing, okay, But throughout the night he does
(40:06):
not move and it gets hot. Yeah, and so like
if I want to flip on my side, I have
to do this whole maneuver to not disturb him. Of course,
so he's the bedthog for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
It is funny like in the middle of the night,
I'll change positions and I'm like, I will not disturb
my dog. It can't happen like ORMI I saw hole
and they are hot although they're small, they're little space heaters.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah. We have a whole like talk about bedtime routine.
It's like Dory starts the night with rob and dugs
in between my legs and then Fiona, our cat, the
white kiddie, she starts off sleeping on the corner of
the bed. But when I go to the bathroom in
the middle of the night. I have to flip on
my side and open my left arm to have a
(40:51):
little circle, and then Fiona will walk up to me
and lay in my arms a second only after I
go to the bathroom. It's just but it's like heaven,
you know, I wouldn't have it any other way, all right.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Who's more likely to ignore you when you say no?
Speaker 1 (41:07):
Oh? Doug? He's very stubborn. Oh really, Yeah. When he's on,
he's on, like when he's like doing a commercial or
you know, we're doing a video shoot, he's like freaking amazing.
But you want him to heal on a walk? Good luck?
He's like, mom, do you know who I am? He
literally just wants to smell and pee? Okay.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Who's more likely to play fetch?
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Dory? Just a fetcher.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Who's more likely to console you when you're sad?
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Douggie and Dory. They're both kind of equal in that regard.
They do it in their own ways. Last, but not least.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Who's more likely to sneak a tree off the table
when you're not looking?
Speaker 1 (41:47):
Doug? Yeah, he's I mean, he's like the food food monster.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
He loves snacks, I have my little dog at home.
I like tell people that if I left him with
an endless a pie of food, he would eat himself, oh,
until he exploded.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Yeah, I think so. It's like doggy muck bangs, like
they trust they would. They would just eat until they can't.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
I can't eat anymore. Oh, I hope we got that
Dory snoring so loud. She's like, I'll show them amazing. Well,
thank you guys so much for coming on. It was
so nice to finally meet you guys in person. You're
so welcome. I love Doug so much. And if you
guys aren't following Doug already, you're crazy and you must.
(42:30):
His handle is it's jug the Pug.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
You're welcome. That was such a great interview. I loved
having Doug and his sister Dory here.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
They were so cute.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
They were so cute, and all of you listeners out there,
if you were hearing snorts and snores and farts and
all the things, that was them really enjoying it.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
We definitely picked up a lot of their their sounds,
but they were adorable.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
That's just pug life.
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yes, you get the sounds and they're so cute, and
Doug was sleeping most of the time. I think this
studio has the effect of like putting dogs to sleep.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
You know what, I've noticed, ever since you had that
pet psychic on, all the animals are so chill when
they're in this space. I don't know what she did, and.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
She said she did some reiki on Saya, so maybe
she like left her.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
I think call me energy.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Because Doug was so active before he got up here.
In the second he sat down.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
He was like night night, good night, good night. I
loved him.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
God, he was able to take a little snooze.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
All right, Well we'll jump right into our paw and order,
all right, in honor of Doug the Pug, I made
this paw and order addition for breaky cephalic breeds. Those
are gonna be our smushed face breeds, like our Frenchies,
Pugs of course, English bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Boxers, shitsus which
(43:59):
Morgan has one.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Up of sure do, and she snores a lot.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
They are little snores and they are so stinking cute.
And I know I've talked about this one hundred times,
but they just cannot breathe as well as dogs with
long snouts can so any dog can overheat, but rereaky
cephalic dogs are way more likely to overheat. So on
days where it's over eighty degrees, if it's super humid outside,
I highly recommend not going outside for long, long periods
(44:25):
of time. If you have to go outside, like let's
say you're on a patio or you're hanging out, make
sure they have access to shade and plenty of water.
I would avoid long walks. Don't play fetch. It can
go from like a really fun afternoon where everything seems
hunky dory, and then to all of a sudden, they're
not able to regulate their body temperature. They're overheating, and
(44:45):
it's a life threatening emergency.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
I've been able to tell this recently with my shit too.
Andy will go on walks around my apartment and we
make it maybe halfway around my apartment building, just my building, right,
and I'm like, okay, I'm picking you up and we're
going back now, and.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
I'm gonna get you a stroller.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, and they won't. I mean,
they'll be usually the young ones too. They're tails wagging,
they're bouncing around. Oh I'm super happy, and then all
of a sudden they become too hot. They can't sweat
like we can.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Andy immediately comes in the house and she just lays
flat out Superman pretty much and just has the cool
floor on her stomach and then seems to get it
back together. But yeah, it's worrisome.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
It is worrisome, and it's better to just be preventative
and keep a really close eye on it and just
know if it's hot out, if you're laying your hand
on the concrete or cement and you know it feels
very warm to you, that's what their paws are touching,
that's what their bellies touching when they're laying down, and
that's a recipe for them to overheat pretty quickly.
Speaker 3 (45:43):
Is there a sign when it's like, okay, they're not
cooling themselves down, maybe I should take them into the vet.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
If they're a respiratory rate like let's say you were
outside and now you're back inside and you've been inside
for a couple of minutes and their respiratory rate is
still really high. They're panting, they're you know, drooling from
the mouth a lot of times. Their gum color or
their tongue color will change. So if you see any
like purplish color, if it's not that like bright healthy pink,
(46:09):
that's like no boin, no sos, emergency, go to the
hospital right away.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
Got it is that button still right over there, the
one on the board. Yeah, okay, just checking.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Producing and producer, Morgan.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
You just want to make sure you're glad to hear
capturing this, you.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Know, Yeah, this is very important information, all right.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Number two, if you are planning to own a break
ecephalic breed, then be prepared to wipe. My friends, there's
a lot of wiping involved.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
Wipe.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
You have to wipe those nasal folds, those cute little
wrinkles and folds all around their nose and their eyes
are adorable, but they fill up with gunk. They get infected,
and you want to start wiping from day one. You
want to get them used to it as a puppy.
And Morgan's like, I have never done this in my life.
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Once in my life have I wiped.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I will say shitzuos, although they're breakie saphalac, they tend
to have less folds than like a frenchie or a pug.
Like they really I mean as you saw with Doug
and Dory, like they have some pretty thick nasal folds.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Yeah, I think Andy's a little better off.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Yeah, maybe some less folds. So you're not don worry.
We're not owner shaming you, I feel it.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
Uh so yeah, be prepared to wipe. You got to
like open those folds up, get in there with your wipes,
and really really clean them out. Unscented baby wipes are best,
but if they are getting infected, if they're red, if
they're stinky, you probably want to talk to your vet
and get some medicated wipes.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
Imagine someone just tunes in the podcast like right here
at this moment, and you're like, open those folds, get
in there, white, get on, and then in there. Okay.
Speaker 2 (47:46):
And on that note, a lot of them have quirkscrew tails,
like our bulldogs are Bostons, and those have a lot
of folds around them too, So you want to clean
out those little butt folds around their tails too.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
Oh my gosh, such high maintenance.
Speaker 2 (48:00):
It is not a glamorous job, but someone's got to
do it and it's important. So just start your wipe
fund right now. If you're going to own a break
eecephalic breed.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
And get in those folds, y'all.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Get in those folds all right, last, but not least
if they are coughing or sneezing excessively. Obviously a sneeze
here and there is not the end of the world.
But if you're like, hey, my dog's sneezing a lot,
there's not coming out of its nose, take it to
the vet right away. Any sign of a respiratory infection,
and these pets that already can't really oxygenate that well
should be taken really seriously. Sometimes our dogs that have
(48:33):
a mile cough, we can give them a day or
so see if they can clear it on their own,
just like when you and I get a cold. But
with a break acephalic, it's like nope, red flag, straight
to the vet.
Speaker 3 (48:43):
I've been lucky there too. Andy hasn't done a lot
of that. She had a little reverse sneezing spell for
a few weeks and then that went away.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
M hm.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
And we've been smooth sailing since.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
We're going to do a whole thing on reverse sneezing
for our listeners out there. I've had so many people
ask me about this, so we will get to that,
but yes, you are very lucky and that you haven't
had that issue. Yeah, coughing is Coughing is no bueno,
especially in our breaky syphlex So that's it. That's our
last poll in order of the day. It was such
a great episode. Loved having Doug here, Love having Morgan,
(49:14):
producer Morgan President Morgan here. Oh my gosh, the president
of the Nashville Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (49:19):
Join more often. This has been a lot of fun
and I feel like I can just use you to
ask all my questions.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
I think. So this is your first appearance, but it
won't be your last day.
Speaker 3 (49:28):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
And for all the listeners out there, if you have
any questions, you can always DM me on Instagram at
doctor Josie Vett. You can click the link in my
bio to record any questions you have for the podcast,
and as always, please rate, review, and subscribe.
Speaker 3 (49:44):
Five stars really help a new podcast. So if you
could spare ten seconds just to hit I have stars
on all the platforms you listen, that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:54):
You'll take all the help we can get and we'll
see you next week.
Speaker 1 (49:58):
Thanks for tuning in.
Host
Bobby Bones
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