The Pug Life

Fun Fact: a group of pugs is called a “grumble.”

Since she was young, pugs have held a special place in Sarah’s heart. They bring her joy — and she’s learned that they bring a lot of other people joy too. That’s why every month, she and a group of fellow pug owners gather together for “pug meet-up.”

“At pug meet-up we don’t try to bring all of our trials and tribulations from life. It’s just meant to be a happy, fun place for people to have an hour or an hour and a half to enjoy other people and enjoy other dogs.”

Video Transcript

Sarah Malecki: We have a saying that, “I didn’t choose the pug life. The pug life chose me.” And I think that’s very real for me. Anytime you go anywhere with a pug or especially a group of pugs — and a group of pugs is called a grumble — so anytime you go anywhere with a grumble, you basically get people like fanning out over the grumble. They come, they want to meet them, they want to take pictures with them. They’re very excited about it.

Okay, so when I was either nine or 10, I think I was nine. My older sister and I really wanted a dog, and so my parents finally gave in. And they had a few parameters for what kind we got. That’s where pugs came from, and it just kind of stuck because pugs are a little bit addictive. Once you have one, you want them all.

Good, Bernard. This is Bernard. He came in with only one eye, he does just fine. Occasionally he runs into things, but he bounces back really quick.

Producer Ronald: Hold on, hold on. Look at me, get your angle. Perfect.

Sarah: It started because I had moved to Austin, and there are several people in Austin who have adopted pugs from Pug Hearts of Houston. We decided to host a little group get-together, and it went well and we enjoyed it. So we decided to just kind of keep it going. And this year is our 10th anniversary year, and so we’ve decided to do a tour of Austin.

(Pugs run around a park)

I think we’re a pretty welcoming group of people. That’s really our only rule, is that the people be kind. At pug meet-up, we don’t try to bring all of our trials and tribulations from life. It’s just meant to be a happy, fun place for people to have an hour or an hour and a half to just enjoy other people and enjoy other dogs.

I’m partial to pugs, but I love all dogs. And so I just feel like dogs are still living beings with feelings. And so anytime we can help them live their lives in a healthy, happy way, that’s a positive thing. But with the pug meet-up, we get to join that together with humans and trying to just help people have a little bit of happiness in their lives. We’re not going to solve all their problems, but we can give them a little bit of reprieve from the rest of the world once a month. And that’s our goal.