Much like there are regular humans and then there are celebrities, there's everyday doggos and then a select few famous pooches.
Australia lays claim to two of the world's most well known dogs on social media, Life of Pikelet and Nigella Pug, both with hundreds of thousands of followers -- and the good news is your pup can meet their idols at the upcoming Dog Lovers Show in Sydney.
The Show is the complete opposite of a 'Best In Show' -- it is for people who genuinely love dogs, want tips on how to have a happier and healthier pooch, finding the latest food, tech and toys in the market, and the chance to pat and meet lots of new breeds.
We spoke to "Nigella The Pug" about Facebook fame and her favourite pastimes.
"I was adopted when I was eight weeks old. My mum drove to Tamworth to pick me up and she cried when she first met me because but I was very cute, still am actually," Nigella told HuffPost Australia.
"That was three and a half years ago now, and I can count on my paws the number of days I have spent apart from my family. When I was little I had two older siblings, Benson and Tinker, they passed away this year however they lived a very long and happy life in our pug loving family.
"I have two younger rescue pug siblings, Bobby who is two and Finella who is six months. Everyone thinks Finella is cute, but I know it's just because she is little, I am much cuter,"
"My social accounts were started 'just for fun' -- mum takes lots of photos of me and she wanted an outlet to share them without inundating her friends. In the beginning my followers were just our friends and then almost overnight there were 1k followers, within a few weeks there were 10k followers and it just continued to grow. I now have 140k followers on Facebook, but only 10k on Instagram. I'm #oldschool," Nigella said.
"I post photos and updates of my daily life, my photos are not staged or produced in any way, they are just taken and posted from mum's mobile phone. We receive lots of messages from devoted followers, and a lot of people don't have the opportunity to have a pet or a pug because of work or their living arrangements and they find that sharing my life through my posts they get to have a little pug love in their life as well. We have made so many wonderful friends through my social accounts, pug and human friends alike, all joined together by a common interest... pugs," Nigella said.
"My favourite activity would have to eating breakfast and dinner...I love food, just like my namesake. I enjoy watching TV -- I bark at every animal or cartoon animal that is on the screen. I also love collecting the eggs from our backyard chickens, playing with my local pug friends and going to the beach. We are fortunate to live close to the beach so get to enjoy running along the sand quite often. I especially love family holidays, we often go down to southern NSW for a long weekend," Nigella said.
Another famous doggo who will be attending the Sydney Dog Lovers Show to meet their fans is Pikelet, of Life Of Pikelet fame. With close to 200k followers on Instagram and a book under their collar, Pikelet is passionate about the plight of rescue pups.
"My forever pawrents were once my foster pawrents. A rescue group called 'Big Dog Rescue' saved my little life when I was just five weeks old. I was on death row in a Sydney council pound and I was suffering from a medical deformity called rickets -- my legs were very bowed. Big Dog Rescue took me in and asked my family to foster me. Fast forward a few months and I decided to take matters into my own paws... I went and ate my foster Ma's diamond ring. I knew then that they'd have to keep me and true to my plan, once the engagement ring was found in my poo, my adoption papers were signed," "Pikelet" said.
"About a week after my adoption my ma and pa helped me to create my social media profiles. I was completely computer illiterate back then, so the help was welcomed. The reality is, when you're a rescue pup and you are blessed with such model good looks as I have been, you sort of have a duty to share it with the world. I take that responsibility very seriously. But please don't think that I'm one of those 'famous for no reason' kinda hounds. Nope, I have a propose and it's an important one. Educating the world on the true facts that rescue dogs are not second best. We aren't damaged or broken. Over the years I think I've done well to establish this by letting my many many foster siblings have their 15 minutes of fame on my Insta and Facebook, proving to the world that be you an older dog, young puppy, duckling, baby piglet or goat, an ex-racing greyhound or even dog-forbid a CAT, rescue animals are just as pawesome as those that are not," Pikelet said.
"I like to keep fit and active with daily walks. I'm an A-grade level at playing fetch and am partial to some competitive pigeon chasing down at my local (park). Because of my celebrity status of now being Australia's most famous dog (red dog who?) and the country's biggest name on social media when it comes to rescue advocacy (not even exaggerating), I do have a lot of functions and events I am required to attend. I go to anything from movie premieres, pubs, bars, cafes to book signing and charity events (I'm a firm believer in using my fame for good). At home I have a much more laid back schedule. When not working through my emails and mountains of admin I take the time to find my zen either on the couch or outside in my favourite sun patch," Pikelet said.
The Show is on August 5th and 6th at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries.
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