In May 2019, dog-friendly holiday cottage company Canine Cottages announced the start of a six-week recruitment drive to find some truly special hounds from ten UK regions to join their team as ‘Canine Critics’. As part of their prize, these four-legged ambassadors would be responsible for testing out and reviewing facilities in some of Canine Cottages’ holiday properties.
‘Gangsta’ Pug, Puggy Smalls, and his dachshund ‘wife’ Pops have beaten thousands of other dogs to be hired as the London Canine Critics. Over 50,000 dogs from across the UK applied for one of the ten regional roles.
Internet sensations, the cute duo have a social media following of around 300k, have had over a billion video views and are excited to share their upcoming UK travel adventures with their fans!
According to owner Charlie, Pops is a ‘rescue diva queen’ and her life now couldn’t be more different from when she was rescued from a puppy farm at the age of three. The cruel former owners had abused and neglected her so badly she was not expected to live long after she was saved, but after recovering both physically and mentally she is now thriving.
Find out more about Puggy and Pops here.
Application criteria included sharing a brief ‘pup personality’ description, along with a recent photo. The company were looking for dogs with character and an obvious love of fun and adventure, with a willing human who would be able to capture their experiences for the Canine Cottages website. As Canine Critics, Puggy and Pops will now enjoy one free cottage holiday, access to local dog-friendly days out and a selection of free products from top brands to review. In addition, they are profiled on the Canine Cottages website and will appear regularly across the company’s social media channels.
Canine Cottages’ PR Manager, Jo Price, said: “We had no idea quite how many dogs are currently looking for employment and would have loved to have offered everyone who applied a job! The selection process was unbelievably tough, and the calibre of applicants was outstanding. However, Puggy and Pops are two very special pups and we’re very proud that they will be representing our brand for the next twelve months.”
