S3 EP 09: PD The Pug

Well, he knew that Mommy was a journalist and he does love Mommy, so he thought he would try his hand at it. And you know what's interesting? As you and your many listeners know, the flat face of the pug makes it easier than a snouted dog for a dog to say, get up on the MacBook and actually peck out an entire novel. And, you know, I didn't write it, of course, Petey did, as you can see on the books by Petey the pug, with help from

Mommy, merrily. So I might have edited a little. But, you know, he's a. He's a genius dog, as all pugs are. Hello, hormones and puggies. Welcome to the Puglife show, brought to you by pug parties. Because your pug deserves to be the best dressed at the porty. And you can check out their outfits@pugparties.com. i'm your host, Donna, and with me are my Puggy co hosts, Rosie and Kenji. There is a saying that goes, everyone has a book inside of them. And who knew that included

pugs? Now, it's not often I get to meet a multi talented pug such as Petey the Pugden Pug author and all round cute snaggle tooth boy pug. But thankfully, he agreed to come on the show to not only talk about himself and his wholesomeness, or should I say, have his pug mum, Maralee, talk about his wholesomeness, but to also talk about his books. The fourth having been released this year. And my personal favourite, a star is born Petey the pug

on the silver screen. But before we zoom in and get to know the pug author himself, I want to remind you to subscribe to our newsletter in the show notes so you get advance notice of our next episode and much, much more. Hello, Marilee and Petey the pug. How are you this morning? Evening. Noting that you're in the US. We are doing wonderful. Our first interview, I guess they say across the pond when it's England, but way across the pond. My wife. Well,

and down under, because you're in DC. So you are well and truly the other end of town. Yes. So it's great to have you on this show, both of you. So this is, this conversation for me is like a twofer. First we get to meet PD, and then we get to talk about what the hell PD's been up to over the last six years, which is writing books. He's a pug. Authorization. Yes. Or as we say, pug. Pa thor.

Paw thor. Yes. Paw Thor. Paw Thor. It's amazing. So we will get into all four books. I have speedily read them over the last couple of weeks, which has been absolutely fantastic. So there's nothing like a good book to read before you go to bed. So that's your first ringing endorsement. Definitely was. Was a great read. I enjoyed all four and I'll let everyone know which one was my favourite as we get along, but I suppose we'll do the get to know PD first.

And so, first things first, what inspired you to become a pugporant? We had pugs growing up. I had, and they were black pugs, so I know, and I'm in love with every color of fawn, brindle, white and fawn. And I am biased toward black. We had two blacks growing up, pepper and snoopy. And I don't know if you want me to tell the story of heifer and Snoopy's names, but I will say,

well, I was a little, little girl when we got. We had pepper and pepper was the mom and we didn't have a whole lot growing up. And my mother had passed and we had pepper the pug. And my dad took her to a breeder. She got pregnant and my father was just like, oh, here we go. We're going to have a huge litter and I'm going to make money. We're going to sell. And he said to my brother and me, he said, marilyn, you can keep one dog. And I said, one puppy. And I said,

okay. And that night we're waiting and waiting and waiting, and pepper finally has a baby. And then all night we're staring and her foot kept moving like she was going to have another one. Nothing. Nothing. Any hours go by and we have one dog. So we kept that dog. And my dad, thankfully for you, yes, thankfully. I was very happy. And I said, dad, you got, you know, good christian people, keep your word. And I got to keep the dog. And he said merrily, what do you want to name

the puppy? And I was little and the mom was Pepper. And I said, salt. And he said, honey, the dog is black. And I said, and I didn't know any other dog names. And I said, snoopy. And he goes, snoopy. It's a girl. And I said, snoopy. So we had pepper and snoopy. And then my whole life growing up, I talked about it in high school, I talked about it in college. I'm going to get a black pug. And I think, golly, throughout my twenties,

thirties, and I was just, I'm going to get a dog. And finally, six years ago, I said, it's time, and went to a breeder, found Petey, fell in love, and that's that. And he will be six years old in September. So that's it. I'm a September baby. In my mind, I was always. I was always a pug parent. But I waited a long time for the reality. Well, now that I know PD is a September baby like me, he's just. He's increased in his September 10. Oh, my God. Is it yours?

That is mine, too. That is my. That is incredible. That's your birthday? That is my birthday. Nobody sent me presents or anything else. Yes, you and your aunt Donna have the same birthday. That is incredible. Well, he's now top of the list, behind Rosie and Kenji as the best pug I know. I have to agree. I have to agree. Although I'll put him in a different rank, but I'll let you say that. Yes. So we'll have to fly the three of you out here. I guess

your husband can come, too. For your birthday. We'll have a big puppet. Well, it's Donna and Petey birthday partie. Yes. Yes. So, as you can see, mine have now decided that they actually like that idea, by the sounds of it, listening to them woof. Underneath the desk, the wrap bangs. But it's quite funny. Our second episode of this season is Espresso and Martini. Two black pugs as well. So you could have had salt and pepper. Who would have known?

Like, and who would have known that? I think you probably. I think you can now get charcoal salt, so you would have been before your time when it comes to. But Snoopy is fine. Snoopy was cool. That's. Who cares? It's a gender neutral name. It's fine. Exactly. So you. You bought

PD, so what was it about PD? Out of the entire litter? Was it his snaggle tooth? That. Well, you know, before I went to Howling Hills, when I was looking for a breeder, and I really liked them the most, and then I wanted a male. I don't know why, I just always wanted a male black pug. And I went through, she had about, I think, six moms. Some were white, so I didn't want that. But there were a few litters coming due. And then when that litter was due, there was, I think, four boys in it,

maybe six. And even Petey's picture on there. I'm sure your audience knows, too. When you find your pug, you know that's your baby fell in love with all the pictures. The breeder was a couple of hours, we're in the Washington, DC suburb of Arlington, and it was out in what we call the Styx, out, way out in a little place. It's called Howling Hills Kennel in Caitletta, Virginia. And we drove out and got to hold him a little bit. He was a little baby, so not much.

I think they barely let you touch them because, you know, he's so little. And so that was it. And six weeks later, drove out, brought him home. I didn't have. I didn't. I hope this is okay to say. I didn't have a crate. I didn't know yet I was getting. I had it, you know, I had bought most of the stuff at home, and it was time to get him. And I brought this little box that was open, no top, and I put pillows in it, real soft little pillows. And he came. You read the first

book. I came home in a box. You really did the first book. Get me out of here. He used reflections how he thought he was chinese royalty, and yet he's coming home in a suburban, in a box, to a town. How dare you? How dare you? So. No, it's funny, though, when you get your first punk, you go and get all of the. I suppose that I wouldn't even say the natural things, like the things that come to mind initially is got to have a colony, anything that you need to have

legally to keep them alive. And then you sort of. Then you go and get them and you go, oh, my. Like, I was the same. When I went to. To pick up Lewis. He was. I was living in Cairns. He was in Townsville, which is a four hour drive. And it's like old highway. And I was quite lucky, the breeder who was looking after him for me because he'd been rescued, the vet had rescued him, had agreed.

She had a dog show in Tully, which was kind of halfway, and she said, come to Tully, which basically meant I didn't have to do an eight hour round drive to go and pick him up. And so I get there and sort of they open up the back of the car and he's in this great crate because I. Obviously she had many pugs. And then, same thing again. It dawned on me, oh, my God, like, he's gonna sit on. He's gonna sit on the front seat of my car for the next 2 hours as I drive him back to Cairns.

He. He had a nice blankie. Yeah. So. But I did think to myself at the time, like, oh, my God, if I accidentally have a car accident. Although I have airbags. He will get launched. So here I am trying to, like, with his. And he didn't have a harness because I didn't. Back in those days, I didn't understand the importance of harnesses with pugs. So we only had a collar and his leash was connected to his collar. And then I tried to sort of, like, tie his leash off around the back of the chair as my

pseudo. This will keep you safe. Break your neck. Obviously, if I have a car accident or someone hits me. But. But, yeah, it was. It wasn't until I got home that I went, oh, my God. I need to be a much more responsible pug owner. The knees. And, you know, not only that, when. When Petey, he's this, you know, little eight week old little baby, and I got him home. And while I've been talking about a dog for, you know, ever. Years. Years, this is my first dog. Like, you know, it's.

And you think, you know, it's not going to be harder than, you know. I remember what it was like when you kids. Yeah, I remember sleeping. You know, we have a, like a four story townhouse, and I remember sleeping down in the. The main level that we would den downstairs and we were on the main level. And because I didn't really. You're told, but I didn't really get that. Every hour he has to go out, you know, he has to pee and stuff like that.

And how niffy they are when they're playing with you and how your arms look like, you know, you're. You're an abuse victim. I said, my guy said, you know, someone's getting arrested here. My arm. And so what's funny is now he's six, and I've had several friends say, do you want to get him a little brother? And sometimes I think about it, and then I think you kind of get amnesia. You forget about the nipping and the, you know, the. Every hour, no sleep. It's. Yeah, it's like

having a kid. Absolutely telling you what's wrong. Right. No, I agree. Like, because I got Lewis when he was seven, so he was already a senior punk. And he was quite. And then, as I was saying before, we actually hit record, only meant to, like, the vets were said, yeah. Life expectancy a couple of years after everything he's been through lasted for seven years. So at that point in time, in that seven years, I was in the Navy the entire

time. I had gotten divorced and then been at sea, been to war, done a few other things, met my now current partner and so it was like, me and fat dog against the world. That was us. And then Andrew, come on the picture. There were a few alpha male wars. Andrew thought he was in charge. Fat dog thought he was in charge. I looked at both of them and said, get over it. Fat dog's in charge.

He's been around. And, like, literally, Andrew said to me once, I don't know if I've ever mentioned on a podcast before, Andrew come out and said. He looked at me, and I'm like, yes. What are you talking about? And he said, no. He gave me that look. And I went, well, noting that I didn't see the look. Can you explain it to me? And he said, the look of, I've been around longer than you. This is my house, dude. This is my house. And I've got your number, mate. Like,

she's gonna choose me over you. Just. Just get over it. You know? I don't know what it is about. I'm sure it's all dogs, but definitely you with your pugs and your many listeners will certainly. I'll bet I'll nod their heads. I find with Petey that certain people. My thing about Petey, Petey's personality, he's so. He's like a bubbly, happy dog. When we're out walking, he never attacks, he never growls. He's just a happy,

friendly, and too friendly to a fault. When we go to the dog park, he also thinks he's a big dog, which. Lord save. Awesome. Bravo. Right? And, you know, he. When certain people come over, and there are a group of people. I know this has got to be true for you and all of your listeners. You've got a certain. Some in your family, some of your friends who they are just in love with. Like, I don't know if it's the scent of the person they're used to.

And then there are some people, they're kind of like, meh. Yeah, very meh. Like, you know? And so, yeah, I've got a handful of friends that he just goes bananas, and some that they're just kind of, yeah, take it or leave it. But he's so happy and friendly, and it's. I. There's no other dog that I know, obviously. I grew up with hunting dogs, so they sort of didn't spend a lot of time with them, getting to know them as much as I've gotten to know my pugs. But a pugs face would have to be the most

expressive dog face I've ever seen. Oh, my goodness. You know, when you're in the shit. Like that stink eye. Whoo. Like, it's just there's. There's no two ways about it. They know that their face can say a thousand things in a split second. And you just like, I think if you're oblivious to it, this. You shouldn't have a pug. Really, you shouldn't. You should not be a pug owner. If you don't think your pug when he's, quote, busy doing, he doesn't really need you

bothering him. And for Petey, that's his bully stick. If he. I don't know if your dogs. So he loves bully sticks. And I have to kind of limit it. Cause he would, you know, chew all day long. But sometimes in the evening, if we're just, you know, sitting around and watching a movie or something, and he'll be with his bully stick, and I go just to get his attention because he's so cute. I want him to look at me and I'll say, hey, Petey. And he will, like, stop chewing and, like, turn his head

toward you. Like, what? Muhr. Like two syllables. And that's the only time. Or the dog never growls. Never is mean. But if you try to take his bully stick and he's not ready, it's the only time he'll give a little growl. Like, don't take it. Yep. Yeah. No, absolutely agree with you on that one. Certain things.

Don't take it. Like, you can. Just like, there are times when I'll be doing something and I'll look over and they're looking at you, and I've said it to Andrew before, I'm like, if they're poor, come up to their eyes and did the I'm watching you thing, I would not be surprised. Cause it's just like, I'm watching you, mum. Don't you dare. Sure. Change me for dinner. Yeah. Petey's vet has him. Petey's not a heavy dog. And, you know, it's hard. All of us, our pugs so easily get too big,

you know, and it's very hard to resist. And he does get his too many cookies and stuff, but he really stays lean. And I don't know if my or his vet was psychic or what, but when he was eight weeks and he had his first check, little dog and doctor Bush, who you met in book one, she looked at him and she said, nope, he's not gonna be a big pug. I think he'll be 14.6. He weighs 14.6. Wow. I had him weighed. He got his flu shots last week. I don't

know if you have to do, if that's a thing there. And he weighed, I thought he was skinny because we've done doing so much walking, but I guess I've given him enough treat so that he stayed even. And he weighed 14, 714. Eight. And he, in the winter, like his very, quote, fattest, he'll get to 15, two, and then they want him back a little bit. But most pugs can get up to like 1618, you know? Absolutely. But I just, how did she know when he was eight weeks old, he'll be

14, six. That's almost always what he is. That's, and that, that's hell. Spot on, I have to admit, because, like, Rosie is what I refer to as a petite pug. So she's quite tiny. She's smaller than the average pug, whereas Kenji is next to her. Kenji looks really tall, but Kenji is actually the right size, like, from a height perspective. And it's just incredible that the fact that, because obviously we were talking before about the fact that our first collection, hopefully, fingers crossed,

will be out at Christmas time. Doing all the research to design the clothing specifically for the pug body at the various sizes has actually been quite interesting. We figured out sort of base, what the base average size is for most of the pug types because you sort of, you've got the petite pug, Rosie. She's technically a 50 centimeter chest, but she fits into a size 45 centimeter t shirt.

And I think it's because she has this little petite svelte body, even though technically she should be wearing a 50 centimeter t shirt. Yeah, Kenji has a 50 centimeter chest, but as I said, when you put them next to each other, he's taller than she is, but it's just the shape of their body is that the t shirt fits quite differently for both of them. And for her, a 45 actually fits better for her little petite body. It's incredible. But then we get up to like the 65 centimeter chested

pug, which is more the barrel shape. Like some pugs just don't, they don't slim down at the waistline, so they're just that one. It's, as I said, it's like a little barrel. Fat dog was a little pork barrel with four legs. That was just him. And it's just, yeah, Petey has a real, he has a barrel chest and then nothing for him. And then a very slender waist. Yeah, yeah, it's, you know, I think you're, I think it's genius that you are creating dogs for the pug's body.

I'll give you Petey. You'll see it. I know you said, going to look at his videos. You know, he has a lot of videos on Instagram at Peteythepug, everybody. And one of them is set to Madonna's vogue, and it's a look at his closet. He has, you know, you know, we have him in costume and he doesn't like it, but he looks adorable anyway. So when we're getting him clothes, you look at him and you see that waist and you go, I made the

mistake some time ago. I would order smalls because he would think, no, because of the barrel body. He has to have a medium, occasionally a large, but very rarely because he's a very, he's a slender pugdae. But one of the things, when I was first acquainted with you a couple months ago, and we had started chatting and getting to know one another on email, and then I went to paw parties, and I thought, this is, you're the only site I've found that is specifically

for pugs here. There's a lot of places you can go to Amazon, but, I mean, you like chewy, which I had mentioned off the interview, is a place to order food and whatever. They're associated with a store here called Petco. And we order some of his costumes and his clothes from there. But it's always a mystery, am I getting the small or the medium? And now I always just default to medium because we've had too many or even velcroing to get it around his barrel. He could get it,

the bottom one around his tummy. Yeah, we've kind of faked it. If it's too small, you know, you can shoot at an angle that you can't tell. Velcro is not done, you know, no similar. It's just, it's lit because I've dressed my pugs. So fat dog had a great wardrobe. My ex husband complained that his wardrobe was better than his, and I said, that's your problem. He had a wine shirt,

leather jacket, denim jacket, a dry as a bone. Like I told you before, you know, myself, while he's the author, I work in tv news and video production and stuff. And my joke is I used to spend all my money I'd live on. I don't know if you have Nordstrom there, but we have the equivalent topic. My joke is I used to spend all my money@nordstrom.com. now I spend all my money@chewy.com and when you see that video of the Vogue closet. Yeah, he has better clothes than me now.

God, it's funny also in my profession, you know, before, I still have to, but before Petey, it's, oh, I'm dressed. So, you know, you. You're turned out and you're dressed. No, I wear dog walking clothes. My dog mom cap. What happened? We hardly knew ye. You know. No, no, I completely agree. I do look at my wardrobe and go, what happened? I have more sets of sneakers than I do, dude, with the shoes. They. I still have a million, you know, high shoes. But now it's all

about cute tennis shoes. I'm just, oh, here's another pair I can walk him in, you know? Absolutely. Or at least I have to. When I first. When we first adopted Winston and Charles, I had these great Kenneth Cole stilettos that went with a particular cocktail dress that I owned, and I had to go to a function. So pull out the cocktail dress. My. My go to went to pull out the matching shoes. And that was when I discovered that our brand new adopted pugs of two years old had decided

that my. The stilettos were much better as chew toys than they were. And they had chewed the leather off the stiletto so much that, oh, my goodness. I couldn't even get away with, like, wearing them and, like, a shoot, like, even, like, luckily that the. The actual stiletto bit was black. So I thought, oh, can I, like, just get, like, a magic marker or, like. Or get some electrical tape? Like, electrical tape and kind of, like, no, couldn't even do that.

It was so bad. And they know. They know. They see when you hold up something that has just been mauled and then they scarp it, and I'm like, what the hell do I do now? And they look like you. I didn't do it. I know it wasn't, and I know that, like, I don't know. I mean, I have to. Yes, I've read the books, and I assume that most of it is based on fact, and we will get to that in a minute. But in my experience, black pugs are naughtier than fawn pugs. So I knew

that it was Winston, not Charles. So I will given PD. I'll take your word for it.

Terrible. Um, so we were talking. You did mention about PD's personality and about how he's bubbly and all that sort of stuff, but I. And talk about his naughty traits. They are in the book, or in the books, I should say. But probably what's the naughty trait that you love the most, I think. I don't know if naughty is quite the word. I think that he really. I think he actually believes, and maybe it's true scary, that he really is in charge. This is his home. That, yeah.

And you saw in book one that I have the pleasure of living in with him. He doesn't live with me. I live with him. When we're out and about, he's leading the walks. He's. I'm trying to think of anything funny that I can. He has really funny little traits. Like, we were walking. We took a long walk on Sunday, and we're just walking along in this very loud sports car with a very loud muffler. Went blowing by us and got very right when it went by us, it blew out the loudest noise. And like a

cartoon. I so wished I had videoed it. He flew up in the air, like, airborne into the lawn next to us. Like, you've been in the military is like, dive. You know, he just. He's just so funny. And I don't know if your dogs, I'm sure many of your listeners dogs spin and chase their tails. I make videos of him, and what's funny is he doesn't only chase it, he'll get it in his mouth and he'll kind of just stand there sucking on it, like, now what?

And now, what am I going to do with this? And then he'll just spin in circles with it in its mouth or in his mouth. So it's. I always like it when they accidentally bite themselves and then they look shot, like, yeah. What happened? Just. What? Who did that? Who did that? We have some columns in the house, in some. A couple of the rooms. You can. Your people can't see it, but you were, as we were talking, and it's not funny, but it's funny sometimes he's just not paying attention.

And he'll just be, like, racing around the house and you hear this smack. Oh, yeah. But he never hurts himself. He just looks confused for a minute, and then he just goes back to what he was doing. I will tell him I wasn't thinking hard enough for a good answer. I was a little frozen there on the mischievous. I did think of one thing. That is he can't learn. He cannot learn training. So he was trained. You read in the book, Miss Sophia, and he's. They say pugs

are a little stubborn to train. Petey is very good at sit, especially at food motivation. Sit. He will down, he will shake, but he will not come, which in traffic makes me really hold to the leash so I might do some refresher. But anyway, as far as training, he knows not to potty in the house. He knows the rules. No, in our dining room, we have hardwood floors. And the grug in the dining room is dark green.

It's forest green. And the joke in this house, you'll find a few days later a nice hard little pile of poop in the green. And my friend, she's always. Because it's grass to him. It's not his fault. Mommy, you put grass in the house. I just went to the grass. So that is. That is one of his worst indoor traits, is he? At least he doesn't do it. We have one in the living room. We have a white rug. And I'm very thankful that he

doesn't. Oh, absolutely. Poop in there. So. Yeah, but the green carpet is, to him, it's just a nice yard. It's his indoor yard, I have to admit, sort of. We've been fairly lucky. I had to toilet train Winston and Charles, so they were two, because they'd been locked in a courtyard for their first two years. So when they come to live with us, I spent the first six months. Andrew was still in the navy.

I'd retired by then. He was at sea. So I was doing like you doing all of the toilet training all by myself. It was awful. I had forgotten how awful it is. Yeah, you get amnesia. That's why getting another baby. I'm kind of like, I want to. But maybe you need to rescue one that's already been toilet. But it was quite funny. Like, once. Once they got it, it took six months. But once it was almost like a door opened in their brains and then the knowledge just flooded through

one day. And then it was great. But of course, what would happen is that the only way. And I. It was always Winston. If he was pissed off about something, whatever it was, it would have been the tiniest of slides. But if he was pissed off about something, he would poop in the passageway to the front door and he would do it without anyone noticing. So he was like. Ed used to call him a stealth. Pooper,

the stealth dog. But then what would happen is, like, especially Andrew, I. For some reason, I would see it before I would actually step through the front door. Because he would position his poop in such a way that if you weren't paying attention when you opened the front door, you would step in it. Like it was almost perfect. 75 cm. So a military step is messing with 75 cm. That's amazing. He'd figured out that 75 cm from the front doorstep

was exactly where his poop needed to be. No. Even as a little bitty baby, I think he already knew this was his house. I'll tell you one thing, trying to train him. You know, pee pads, right? The little. Okay, so when you read the books, get pee pads and line the floors. And Petey had no interest in peeing on a pee. Would look at it like, you know, you and what army are going to make me go on that pee pad?

And he would. There could be, Donna, there could be ten pee pads, and he would find the one little opening space, and right there. Yeah. Poop. Little pee. But not on the pee pad. No, no, no, no. It's. It takes a unique kind of intelligence to do it, though. That's what you have to do. The worst part was someone thought they were being generous, and they were. Somebody gave me, like, here, welcome, Petey. They must have given me a 150 pee pads. We had boxes,

and he was just. I ended up just donating them. He was having nothing. I brought him to one of the daycare centers for dogs. Here you go. Here's some pee pets. Yeah. There's nothing worse than buying something that you think that they will absolutely love only to have them give that look of me. Yeah. Especially when you buy 150, maybe more. It might have been a couple hundred. We had boxes because you think like. Diapers, you're going to need them for the first.

What you really. I have to admit, like, a few friends who've said. Who rung me and said, look, you know, I want to get a dog. Not specifically a pug, but. And I just say, okay, these are the cleaning products that you will now need to own in bulk because you think I'm lying, but this is how it's going to be. Paper, tail pictures. Puppy carpet sand. I really need to have shares in carpet sand for puppy poop and piddle. We have. Do you have nature's miracle? Do you have that?

So nature's miracle, you have, whatever, another brand, it's the same thing. So it's a spray. And after the dog has pooped on, let's say, your green carpet, thinking it's grass. Well, after you clean it up, and especially pee, this works best with urine. After you've cleaned it, you spray that on there. And apparently, if you don't, after you've sprayed that on there, the dog can no longer smell the scent of the urine, because if he can smell it, the urine again, he'll go back to the same spot.

Generally they'll mark over another dog scent, but they'll also pee on, you know, where they are used to, you know, that leg of that chair, you know. Yeah, we call it puppy Sand. I can't. I think it's called zorbas, but it's basically same thing. It's probably carpet, but you can use it on because we've got hardwood floors you can use on the floor. And the idea is it soaks up any residual that you haven't been able to get. And it's just a crystal, and it all goes

chunky as it soaked everything up. And same thing again, it removes the. The scent because it's not too bad when you've got your own dogs. But then, because we. As I was saying before, we foster rescues, if you have a high turnover, it sort of gets to the point where I worry that my house is going to start smelling like a puppy toilet. So, as I said, lots of cleaning products. So anyway, we should stop talking about cleaning products and get onto the most

important thing. What inspired PD's writing career? I mean, he's four books, so it's not just. It's not a passing fancy. It's been four books. Well, he knew that Mommy was a journalist and he does love Mommy, so he thought he would try his hand at it. And, you know, what's interesting is, as you and your many listeners know, the flat face of the pug makes it easier than a snouted dog for a dog to say, get up on the MacBook and actually peck out an entire

novel. And, you know, I didn't write it, of course, Petey did, as you can see on the books by Petey the pug, with help from Mommy, merrily. So I might have edited a little, but, you know, he's a. He's a genius dog, as all pugs are. And, yeah, that. That flat face, though, definitely helps to bang the keys out. So, yeah, so go through the four titles. So. Thank you. So Petey's first book,

his fourth book just came out. Well, by the time we're taping this in late summer, late August. I know it doesn't come out then, but this book came out in late June, and it was his fourth book in less than three years. His first book came out in November of 21. And I actually. Well, sorry, little oopsie there. As PD would say, Petey wrote it during COVID and during 2020. And. Which was a very good Covid thing to do. Distraction. Exactly. So the first book is called

get me out of here. The reflections of the put upon pug. All four of his books are about a misguided but well meaning little pug who starts off every book thinking he knows best, and by the end of the book gets his comeuppance with a lot of lessons of love and laughter and hilarity along the way, and pretty much

every story. He knows everything and then just muffs everything up and by the end realizes, I don't want to ruin them because I hope couple of your people will want to be curious, but get me out of here is about a little dog who knows that out there is where it's at. And if he could just get out of this house and get out in society and kind of do his own thing, he'd be happier and doesn't quite realize the great life he has at home with mommy.

And so you'd have to read the book to see if he actually does get out. But he certainly fantasizes about how great it's going to be outside. And book two, I think of all the books, book two as the best title. When Petey's had, he just had his 35th book signing in this area, the big, big dog stores with all of the supplies and the toys and all that. They're called Petsmart. There's also Peter Co. There's loyal companion, but Petsmart's very large and we have most of his book

signings there. He's had a lot of outdoor events and other things that he's been invited to. But at Petsmart last Saturday, he had his 35th signing. And anyway, people are always loving the title of book two. And it's called no you sit, Petey the pug's manual for how to train your human. And even the. Which is so true. The COVID of the book has Petey at the top of all these pillows holding a little treat up

for mommy, who's begging. And in that book, Petey decides that the dogs should train the humans, not the humans training the dogs. It would be a better world if they would just teach us how we should act, which is like a dog. So they try to in every area, from grooming to the get do away with grooming, to the dog park, to walks, to daycare, to every area of life. They retrain

how things should be. And, you know, by the end, you got to figure out if maybe dogs and humans should all get along and just kind of see what happens there. Book three is called working like a dot, dot, dot dog. Petey the pug in corporate America. And in this book, Petey decides that if he just had his own career, he could make his own money and wouldn't have to get his toys and treats from this chick and not be

dependent on mommy anymore. So over the book, there's seven chapters, not including the intro and the epilogue, and he gets seven jobs in seven days, and within the first 4 hours of each, blows them all spectacularly, is fired on his face and has to start all over with a new job the next day. And it's everything from he's a detective's assistant,

he's a clown at a children's party. He works for an assistant in a landscaping and doesn't quite understand the whole fertilizing, watering and digging part of imagine why he might have gotten fired. He gets a job as a, what's called here, a dog who travels with the police is called a k nine. K nine. I don't know if that's out there. He gets a job trying to be a k nine. I don't know if he actually ends up

qualifying. He might get fired first. He gets a job as a gym assistant and about three or four other jobs. And then in book four, which just came out in June, that one is called a star is born. Petey the pug on the silver screen. And in that book, Petey gets a tiny bit role, not even a cameo, a teeny role in a chewy productions film. But of course, he thinks he's the movie star. And mayhem ensues. One thing after the nether, because he thinks he's the movie star of the. Of the production.

And yeah, things go a bit awry, as we might say. I don't think he gets his golden Globe or Oscar just quite yet. Not yet. You never know. Dream. We can all dream. So those are the four books. And, yeah, it's been quite a ride. It's just. It's been a lot of fun. It's my biggest thrill because he's still. He's no, you know, the most famous pug, everyone. Oh, Doug the pug. And maybe Petey one day I said, I don't know about that. A girl can dream. A girl can dream. But my.

As silly as this is going to sound, Petey and I were taking a walk about a month ago, and a woman came up to me and she said, I mean, I'm a nobody. She points at the dog and she goes, is that Petey the pug? And I said, why, yes. And she goes, we met you at dogfest. It was some outdoor thing. How did she recognize me? You know? But how nice for PD. He must have felt very, very famous. He's tongued on the leash. Let me be in the spotlight. Move. You know, I love

it. I mean, I enjoyed reading all four books. I mean, obviously I crammed them, so I read all four in a row, whereas people would normally read one as they each coming, coming out. But the one thing I will say is you can read an individual book and not worry that you can read it individually and not, and not need to have read the previous ones. So if anyone wanted to, they could read the latest one first and then go back from there, even though you do reference the other

books in each book. But I never felt like I could have just picked up book four and gone, oh, I really need to read the other ones to understand what's going on in this one, which was great in the earlier books, because we were talking about it before. Like, the first book has some great poetry. Petey is a wonderful poet. What was it? Ode to poop? Was that what I'm trying to. I think that was one. So, yes, I did. I did enjoy that one in particular. I was reading it out to Andrew,

giggling to myself as I was reading it. Government says reuse it. Yeah. And the. The one of the other things I really liked, especially about the earlier books, was the little tidbit she had about, like, this is, this is. This is information about puck. So this is fact. So if people who read it aren't pug owners or know a lot about pugs, they do get an education around what it is to be a

pug owner. So, especially if there are children out there that read these books, if they do decide one day that they want a pug of their own, at least they've had a fun way of learning about pugs and their personalities. And then hopefully, when they do get their pug, they'll be a lot better prepared for the PD style behavior that they may potentially have to deal with. Yes, exactly. But I did.

I really enjoyed a star is born. As I was saying before, I think a star is born is my favourite. I really did enjoy the whole lot. But one of my questions is, throughout all the books, there are characters that flow all the way through, which is great, both human and dog, and. But PD talks about the secret fawn girl, pug crush. I had to write that down, so I made sure that I read it the right way. So are we. My first question is, are we ever going to meet said secret

Fawn girl, pug crush? Has PD met her? And he just alludes to her in the books, or has he been? He's never met her. He's as sometimes not arrogant as in charge and showy and funny as Petey is, he's really a little shy in the boy girl department, I think he sees her, he thinks of her. He fantasizes that she will be his mate one day. But when he really gets the chance, he chickens out. But, you know, book five is coming, and not too long. Not too long. He might meet her.

We don't know. I am. I am dying to know, because as I put in one of my emails, Rosie's wondering if it's actually her. She is a supermodel, so she has wondered if he saw her online, as they were. We know there's a chance that right now, the reason Petey is laying in his bed next to her, looking especially googly eyed, is just before this recording, we did hold up our dogs and he did meet her, and he saw that face and he thought.

And then I think he passed out. He is an older lady, so, you know, there is the. But I'm sure she at least reminded him of his faraway fantasy. It's just. It is so cute. And one of the other, his arch nemesis, Ralph, I have to admit, because you don't actually have it in the books. I did wonder, is Ralph another pug or is he one of those other breeds? He's another breed. He's another breed, the dog. That's why he's not Ralph the pug, you see. He's always Ralph the dog. Capital D.

Ralph the dog. Yes. Arch nemesis. We won't talk about. We won't give him any more airtime. Because one of my favorites is the. Remember the. Since you've read them all, the fight they get in and the landscaping chapter of working like a dog, and they're both picked up. Yes, I did. In. In a star is born. I do enjoy the. I don't want to give it away, but what Ralph's mum does and they get caught doing said thing, I did think to myself, ha. The nemesis has been

spoiled again. That's. That's all I'm going to say. People need to read the book so they can enjoy that. That Ralph did not get, or Ralph's mummy did not get what she was hoping for. You know, you've proved the fact that some people ask me, especially at his signings, whether it's an adult or sometimes parents will bring their cause. Obviously, Petey's always at the signings. They ain't there to meet me. And they'll ask, well, what age group is this for? And we always say the books

are for about. It could be a little younger than this, but I always say eight to Grandpa, because some people think some of the illustrations and et cetera. And you might make the assumption that this is more a children's book and children love them. But I am telling you, I get more great, positive, laughing out loud comments from adults. And I think it's because PD, not me, but Petey, does so much reference and research into little tidbits throughout, like in your favorite a star is born.

All kinds of movie references. I'm sure a lot of us from when we were real young, these kids are that movie the untouchables with Kevin Costner. And I just blanked on. I'm sorry, everyone. And there's a chapter called bringing a Petey to a gunfight. And it references that. And I tell the story of that. So, yes, but little stuff like that. So there's. And even if you're a little kid who doesn't know it, we explain it. So everybody kind of learns something. And it's funny,

but it's really all ages, you know? And that's kind of one thing I really like about the books is I hear from all age groups of how much people like it, and it's appropriate for all ages. There's nothing, you know, untoward or whatever the phrase. Yeah. Yes. No. As I was saying before, I was thinking to myself, I'm going to have to buy them for my godchildren. They're at the age where they can read by themselves, but they do enjoy still making Uncle Andrew.

For some reason, Auntie Donna doesn't do very good voices, so. And I do tend to, like, say to them, Uncle Andrew loves reading books to you. So that's his job. And it's a male pug, so he'll. Andrew will just. Just right. Just right. PD. Yes. The PD voice will be perfect.

Absolutely. So one of the things that's definitely in the first book, and I think it gets referred to in books two and three, is about PD's under the stairs house and his kitchen bench nook. So you've shown them to me. But I do. I do want you to talk people through it, because I think especially the kitchen bench nook, if I remodel my kitchen, that's definitely what I'm gonna do. Well, when we redid our. Our kitchen, golly, it was. Let's see, I got him in 2018,

and it was during COVID because I do remember the workers. And I kept saying, you can or can't. None of it. You don't have Covid? I don't have Covid. But, you know, everybody. I just remember it was Covid because they were wearing the mask. But we had the kitchen remodeled and got a much larger kitchen island. And I thought, I have. And I designed good idea or not in my head. So in the front we have like two cuddle chairs where you can watch tv. There's like a little nook, you know,

cut out in the front. The other side is the sink and the dishwasher. And then on the far side, by the sliding glass door, I had them create. Dug into. Cut into the island little dog playpen and has a little opening. Like, I don't want to use the word cage. Like the front of a. Like a crate and a little swinging door. And he goes in there sometimes. There's some toys in there, but mostly he's in his little bed. But it's very cute. You saw it. I brought the camera. Fantastic.

I thought to myself, and it's so unique. Yeah. I think if we sell the house, I hope someone who, you know, has a dog or has a puppy. I don't think a cat's gonna want to be in there. That wouldn't go that well. And then the. The home under the stairs is a funny story. He is. So, again, this is a townhouse. So the stairwell, you know how, like, the downslope of the stairs. So the wall facing the dining room.

I had the handyman, so there's a door cut into that and a street sign over it that says pug lover place. And it's large. I brought you inside it. I put the MacBook in there and let you see inside. And it's tiled above where, if he goes in there, he mostly sleeps in his little bed in the kitchen. But a cleaning crew is here. Someone's here, so he has to go in there. I thought I would put a door over it and he could just play in there. But he mostly just goes in his crate when he's in there.

But it's a good size, I would say 4ft across, 2ft wide. And where the. So imagine a stairwell. The part that slopes would be where the head would be. So there's a picture of a black pug that says, I pug and love you. And then in the wide wall, there's three pug silhouettes, pictures. And then what you laughed at, of course, the funniest on the other wall is, of course, dogs playing poker. You know, of course. And then there's a little spaces for all of his writing awards as well. And a little

toy bin. A little thing in there. Yes, exactly. Exactly. He's the puck Perry. There you go. But, no, it was great. I just was like, oh, that is just. I don't have stairs in my house, but I just. There to talk about the fact that. You just want to cut into the wall. Honey, we're just going to cut a hole in the wall over here, take. Out the air conditioning vent. Who needs that? That's fine. We don't need that. Oh, your husband come home and you're going to go because of merrily.

We're getting a new kitchen. Save up, hon. We need a new island. Oh. I literally just painted my kitchen over the last two weeks. So I think he might. He just look at me and say, really? You might say, hold on. But no, he's great. He's got these two little spaces. Like, they're like, they're like his own little den. I love it. Like, we've just got. We've got their beds, and then we have their travel crate, which is a soft side one. And it's so funny because the travel crate's always

there if they want to duck into it. But in reality, like, I have not remodeled my house just for my pug. And I just think that's incredible. Like, I've had espresso on Martini's mum. They had to move house because espresso has ivdd and he's not allowed to use stairs. So instead of restricting him from using the second floor of the house, they literally decided that the best thing that they could do for him was actually to move house.

So you are the second person that I've spoken to in as many months that has said to me, I have now changed my house to suit my pug. Yeah. I don't know if I'm incredible. You called it incredible. I don't know if I'm incredible or ill. I don't know. You know, it's funny because we live in a nice townhome, but there's not really much of a yard. Luckily, I'm athletic enough that I love to walk him,

so I. I can function fine. But I have found myself in recent, many months looking at homes, and it's really not about, you know, we can deal with whatever house. How big is the yard for Petey? And, you know, I saw. I'm just like. And I don't. I don't want to just, you know, toss him in a backyard and let him find his way. I like to play with him and walk him so we don't really need it. But it is funny. You do put your life around the pugden, you know, and drill holes in your house and

in your kitchen and. You know, and put up with snot on the walls and paw prints and. Whatever, and poop on the grass rug. Yes, exactly.

So we were. Before we actually hit record, one of the other things we talked about was your recent collaboration with the Rainbow Bridge Hospice. Thank you. So can you quickly talk about that? Because I'm sure people would be interested. You know, I've always wanted to have PD partner with a worthwhile group, and I had been researching, and there's so many worthwhile shelters and there's not. Sorry, I said that wrong. There are so many worthwhile adoption

and rescue places. And then I discovered there are actual animal hospices, and I found one. North Carolina is a state right by, not far from where I am. I couldn't find the exact one I wanted locally. And this wonderful woman, the name of it is Rainbow Bridge Hospice rescue. And they rescue dogs from shelters, especially high

kill centers. What happens is when the dogs that get very serious physical challenges, that become very lame and ill, and some old people will just discard them, they don't want to deal with it anymore. They just don't want. And perhaps they think they're giving it to a shelter and it's going to be adopted out. Well, it's not going to be adopted out because the person who goes there with their child,

the kid's going to go, I want that cute little dah dah dah. I don't want the old one with the one with the hip dysplasia who's, you know, looks. So those dogs end up getting euthanized. And what

Terry ended up, what she started, she actually started Rainbow bridge. She had gone through a kind of depressing challenge in her own life, and she wanted. She loved animals and she loved dogs, and she wanted to do something really positive. And this idea came to her to rescue these dogs that were going to be euthanized. And the idea behind Rainbow Bridge hospice rescue is they rescue these dogs and then they let them spend their final months or

years in a home. And just in her headquarters, she's caring for 30 right now. And they do place dogs, and they very seriously vet the homes where they're going to go. They don't just give them to anyone, but it's beautiful. And let the dogs die in, you know, die in dignity, die and Rainbow Bridge provides all of their medicine, all their food, you know, every. They pay for everything. So I got hold of her and we had many, many discussions to make sure we were

a great fit. And we really hit it off. Really were. So Petey is giving a portion of his book sales to help Rainbow Bridge. And it was exciting since this is very. Within just the last month or so that we started. So we had a wonderful eight by ten table sign. It's like an aluminum backed. Our printer made a beautiful sign with their logo. And telling about our partnership that's on his big table at his signings. And of course, we've talked about them on social media and

it's beautiful. People are already giving and it's just a great. Is aligned with that, you know. No, it's wonderful. And so we're talking about sales. So tell us where we can actually find all four books. Thank you. So Petey's website is. And let me just tell your listeners, it's. A lot of people think it's short for Peter. It's actually a p and a d with no period. So his website is pdthepugproductions.com. pdthepugproductions.com. We don't sell on his site anymore. His publisher

is Dart Frog Books. And Gordon, our wonderful. Gordon McClellan, our wonderful publisher, you know that silly algorithm on Amazon, so they like it better from, from there. So it'll direct you. If you go to Pe, the pug and say, buy my book, it'll take you to Amazon. So another much, maybe quicker and easier way if you go to Amazon, just in their search bar, just put Petey the pug books and that'll take you to the page with all four, I. Think is what I did. So, yeah. Yes. Petey the pug books.

Yeah. So hopefully, hopefully a couple of your folks will be curious about it. Yes. And we'll enjoy them as much. Yeah, they enjoyed as much as I did now. And I will put all the details into the podcast notes, as always. So it's a bit easier for everyone to just click on the link and then go straight to the website. So where else can everyone find Petey? Since obviously our australian and uk listeners

won't be able to find him in Perth. Well, I hope that your many audience members will follow him on social media. And whether it's Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, it's edithepug. And that's best way to follow him. Wonderful pictures. Be sure to look at that vogue closet in the reels and you'll see that he has better clothes than mommy could ever hope to and also all her wardrobe money. He's, you know, you can. His books are available at Ingramspark

and draft digital and barnes and noble. But most people just. Amazon's. The Amazon owns us. You know, my joke is it's Amazon, Starbucks and Apple. That's pretty much all of the companies that there are. Marily and Petey, who is currently resting. He's just so tired from all the talking, all that work, and evidently working on his fifth book. Yes, he is. Oh, very good. I can't wait to hear. Can't wait to read the

next one when it comes out. And as I said, hoping that we get more information on secret faunkle pug. Crush, I think you can expect more info. Very good. He'll still be in love for sure. That's always good. So thank you so much for both of you for coming onto the podcast. It's been great getting to know you and also the books. And as I said, we'll put everything into the show notes so people can find you themselves individually and keep up with the conversation. Well,

it's been an absolute pleasure. I'm very grateful for your having me on. Very fun to get to know you and your adorable dogs. Thank you. And hopefully we'll get you back on when book five comes out. Oh, I hope so. Thank you so much. We'll see you soon. Thank you. Bye bye. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't wait to read book five of PD's adventures and hopefully meet PD's secret fawn girl, Pug Crush, which Rosie is privately convinced will be her. But I'm privately not so sure. But we'll

keep that between you and me for now. I promise I will break it to her gently when the time comes. These books can be enjoyed by children and adult children alike. And I know that after having met PD today that you want to learn more about him, which you can do in his books. So tell us what you loved

about the episode. And if you have already read the books over in our Facebook group, live in the puglife, and if you liked the episode or you think someone else might enjoy it, please share it and leave a review with your favourite podcast host so more pugpurints can find us and join in with the fun. It only takes a couple of seconds to give us a five star review, and it goes a long way to helping other pug porrens find us. So until next time, thank you for

joining us. Have a porcelain week. And humans, be generous with the snackies.