A MIRACLE ON LAS VEGAS STRIP

Once upon a time, a Las Vegas Corgi breeder invited some friends over to play with his puppies. That day, a young couple, by the name of Chris and Sarah, ended up adopting one of those puppies: a baby girl by the name of Olivia. And, then two years later, another Corgi, found his way into their hearts. Hammy and Olivia are both Winter babies. Olivia was born on 12/21, the first official day of Winter, and Hammy was born on 12/23, just a few days before Christmas.

Hammy and Olivia’s big personalities filled their home rather quickly. And, then, one very special Christmas morning, a miracle happened: the pups started talking, and they haven’t stopped ever since! Today, Hammy and Olivia are well known actors with over 400 videos, and over 6 million of combined social media followers, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. This Christmas season, we sat down with Chris and Sarah to learn more about their magical pups.

How did Hammy and Olivia find their voices?

“I think every dog owner, at some point, envisions what their dog might sound like, if they could talk, and we were no different. We started to really bring their voices and personalities to life while we were quarantining together. We saw Olivia as a modern-day Cher Horowitz, from Clueless, and we always saw derpy Hammy as a dog version of Patrick Star, from SpongeBob SquarePants. Eventually, we started to include Hammy and Olivia in our everyday family decisions, and answer for them… Does that make us a little crazy? Maybe… but it’s a crazy we’ll gladly accept!”

What does an average day look like for Hammy and Olivia?

“Our entire day is built around the pups. Hammy will wake me up at 6:30am every day, by jumping on my belly and pawing my chest, which is his way of telling me it’s breakfast time. They’ll both get a nutritious meal around 7am, and a walk immediately after, to get an early dose of exercise.

In Las Vegas, we have to be cognizant of the heat, so it’s important that the pups are walked before 8 am in the summer. Afterwards, they’ll lick whatever spoons were used for my daily yogurt bowl and take their morning naps. When they wake up from their morning naps around 11am and see us walk into the closet, they know it’s time to shoot a video for the day. They get excited to get dressed up because they know it’s treat time!”

Can you share your funniest Hammy and Olivia story?

“We have a neighborhood cat, by the name of Chloe, that has a really big crush on Hammy, and Hammy crushes on her too! It is the one animal that Hammy doesn’t bark at, and they kiss each other on the nose every time they see each other. It started off as a rendezvous that would only happen on our walks, and now Chloe comes to our house at night, sits on the fence, and waits for Hammy to come outside! It’s the most adorable thing in the world. If Olivia sees Chloe before Hammy, she’ll bark at her and shoo her away. It’s our pet version of Romeo and Juliet, and we crack up every time Hammy’s “girlfriend” comes to see him!”

What advice would you have for someone looking to create a social media presence for their dogs or pets?

“Start with being authentically you. You don’t need to start by making “talking dog” skits. We’ve learned over time that we subconsciously choose to “follow” someone on social media because we can either (a) learn from them (b) be entertained by them (c) connect with them on a level we relate to, or (d) escape to them, essentially forgetting about any personal troubles for a brief moment. Start by asking yourself which of these values you want to be to someone, and always use that as your North star whenever you get lost in creating your content.” [Full Interview continues on page. 70]

On behalf of Hammy, Olivia, Chris, Sarah and the DOGUE team, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

READ The Full Issue Here: https://issuu.com/coverdogs/docs/dogue_dec_21