I can now die a happy girl.
I’ve met (and PET!) Doug the Pug!
For anyone who isn’t as cool as me and already in the know, Doug the Pug is probably one of the most famous dogs on the planet.
I’ve now met almost all of the famous dogs on my bucket list. I met Pikelet and LeScoob in Australia, Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund (and more!) at Woofstock, Mr. Bojangles in Ohio… I’m happy to meet any pup, any time. As of now, my final ‘celebrity’ pup to meet is Batman, The Bat Pug, in the UK.
Doug the Pug was once just a regular pug like any other until this video went viral and made him famous. So famous in fact that his mom and dad now work on his platform full-time.
Since then Doug the Pug has just skyrocketed to Pet Influencer fame. He has millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. He’s done ads for Febreeze and Planet Fitness. And he now has a Doug the Pug line with Claire’s, purveyor of all things awesome for tweens and teens (and 37 year olds who still think they’re a teen sometimes).
When I saw that we were going to be only an hour from Doug’s Meet and Greet at the Claire’s in the Woodfield Mall on August 25, 2018, I knew that’s where I needed to be. In the end, my long-suffering and amazing hubsey booked us into a hotel that was just a 4 minute drive from the mall so I didn’t have to drive the hour each way to see Doug.
The rules for meeting Doug were simple. You had to get a wristband to meet Doug. To get your wristband you had to purchase one item from his Claire’s line on the day of the event. There had to be a person present for each wristband you wanted.
Easy right!?
Well, within 10 minutes of Doug’s post about the event 1,400 people had responded that they were interested in attending. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention… there were only 500 wristbands available.
I called Claire’s to get a bit more information. It was recommended we arrive at 6am. The store was opening early at 8am. It was time to seriously up my game. This meant reconnaissance.
We went to the mall the day before to see what items I might be able to afford with our limited budget. I really wanted the large Doug the Pug plush with donut since we both share a love of donuts, but at $36.99 it wasn’t to be. The least expensive thing I could find was a sleep mask for $10. Armed with this knowledge, I prepared for Saturday morning and what would be one of the best days ever!
Due to our late night at turtle racing the night before, and hubs’ complete lack of desire to get up before 10am, I got myself to the mall around 6:25 and waited in the car since I didn’t see a line outside. Rookie mistake. I saw a couple of tween girls head in with their dad and I realized that the line was inside. I raced in and found myself with only about 20 people ahead of me- whew!
One of the things you may not know about me is how I like to make friends, everywhere. I met people all day and recorded their stories on my Facebook feed under #storiesfromtheline. I had a chance to meet a family who came in behind me and sat down in line.
One family came an hour to see Doug. Dad only found out who Doug the Pug was last night but woke up at 5 to bring his wife and son. #storiesfromtheline
The doors opened at 8am and we were able to get our wristbands. I’d given in to the idea that Stephen wouldn’t be able to join me in meeting Doug. I was sharing this with the girls and their dad in front of me in line while we waited to get our wristbands. He offered to stand in for my husband! I was so grateful! So I was able to purchase my two items (I got my eye mask and hubsey got $10 Doug the Pug socks) and get the wristband for Stephen without breaking the rules since I had a second person with me. That just made my day even better. I’d get to meet my second best dog (Truffles will always be #1) and Stephen would be able to come too.
With my wristbands secured I went back to the hotel to grab Stephen, get a little rest and get ready for the next line to meet Doug between 12 and 3pm.
We decided that getting back around 11am should be plenty of time to line up. We were wrong. But it turned out to be the best decision of our day.
Before we lined up we were able to get a quick picture with Doug’s mom – Leslie – taken by Rob – Doug’s dad. I was dying. I was able to give her the picture of Truffles (who couldn’t come due to mall guidelines) and the little donation to the Roc Solid Foundation that she made on behalf of Doug. We’d wanted to bring a little treat to Doug, but figured he gets a lot of treats and toys so this seemed like a better little gift since Doug does a lot to support children with cancer where he lives in Nashville, TN.
The first picture below is the start of the line, it looped all the way around where the yellow arrow points in the second picture and the line behind us by 11:30am in the third.
Security on the day was amazing. Each guard we interacted with was friendly and kind but a special shout-out has to go to Officer Jon who was the head of the additional security brought in to support the crowd.
Shout out to Security Officer Jon at The Doug the Pug event!! He has been friendly, kind and funny since 6am 😍😍 #storiesfromtheline
Once I was in line, hubs held my spot while I went to get a picture of the set up. Doug had his own special monogrammed Claire’s bed and the Doug donut plushie was holding his spot!
I practiced my selfie’s with my Doug the Pug paw. When you have 3 hours you find a lot of things to occupy your mind… and camera.
I made a friend in line with Maddie and her mom. We spent the next 3 hours chatting about all kinds of things, but mostly Doug the Pug and Truffles. She also got chatting to Officer Jon and it was the sweetest conversation. Please note, I’ve used a pug to protect Maddie’s privacy.
Made a little friend in line. She agrees that Icing isn’t as good as Claire’s. She loves Doug the Pug and she got the little plushie with the sprinkle jammies and a hat. She let me touch the soft pom pom at the end of the hat #storiesfromtheline
By the time we met up with Officer Jon, we were getting much closer to the store and the front of the line. I did what any good fan would… I put my lipstick on!
Once we reached this point, the whole thing went really fast and became a bit of a blur. But not before I answered yet another question about what we were in line for.
A lady walking by asked what the line was for. I explained Doug the Pug. She said “I thought you were all lined up for free ear piercing, I was like just pay the $20 sheesh!”😂😂😂 #storiesfromtheline
We got really close and I could see him!!
And then the moment came. It was time to meet Doug the Pug. His dad took our pictures. We asked if we could pet him to which he said ‘of course!’ This was my face in that moment.
We took a quick picture with both of us. Theeeeen I kicked hubs out to get my own picture with Doug alone. Sorry hubs!
Just before I walked away, I took a moment to actually look at Doug as I walked by and pet his little paws. It’s easy in times like this to get so focused on getting the picture that you miss making the memory. I have now looked in that smooshie face and petted those tiny paws.
After we got through the line they cut off our wristbands, but we were able to keep them for a memento. We also got pawtographs by Doug. I realized once we left that the donut we’d brought to get in our picture with Doug was still in my hand. So we took one for the team and ate it ourselves.
It was time to head back to the hotel to snuggle the #1 pup in our lives, Truffles and tell her all about the Doug the Pug fun that she missed. She’s sometimes a bit jealous when I come home smelling of other dogs, but she seemed OK with Doug, especially since she got a pawtograph and a lick of his donut.
It was finally time to make good use of my Doug the Pug sleep mask after such an exciting day. I was really excited for the 2 weeks before as well, so the recovery took all afternoon and into the next day.
Overall, the entire process was really smooth. Talking with a few people in line it sounds like the information on the phone when you called Claire’s was a little unclear. Not everyone seemed to know that the line was starting from 6am when the mall opens for walkers and that the store was opening early at 8am.
But, other than that little hiccup, the Claire’s staff were friendly and fun. They passed out candy, had a really organized system for getting items and wristbands and answered any questions. Security was great and really friendly. The time actually with Doug was quick, but it’s all about what you make it and we had a great time.
If the chance to meet Doug the Pug ever came up again, I’d definitely take the time to see him again after such a great expawrience this time!
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