Halloween has gone to the dogs in one New Brunswick community as Dieppe hosted the 10th annual Pug-A-Palooza on Saturday.
“Some people get their kids dressed up for Halloween, they get their pugs dressed up for Halloween,” said Vicky Kyriazis, the organizer of the gathering of pug owners from across the region at a dog park in Dieppe this past weekend.
Dog and owners arrived at the dog park decked out in costumes by the wagonload.
Pug owner Jessica Marshall from Elgin, N.B., took in the event for the first time.
“I think they just have a face that only a mother could love,” she said.
Julie McCabe Legere, founder of Pug-A-Palooza, started the pug frenzy just over 10 years ago as a family gathering and, much to her surprise, after she started a Facebook group the event has grown beyond her expectations.
“This is the first time we have had it since COVID-19 and we have had up to 75 pugs sometimes,” said Legere. “If nothing else, people can come here and have a couple of hours of smiles and laughs.”
The “grumble” — the word for a group of pugs — of pups were dressed up as everything from dancers to jailbirds. Even the three little pigs gathered with their gaggle of proud pug parents not-so-mildly obsessed with their pets.
Susan Reid drove from Nova Scotia to take in the party of grumpy little faces.
“It is great to see everyone get together and all the variety of pugs,” said Reid.
For Melanie Lapointe, it was a heartfelt trip down memory lane.
“Our pug Bella left us in January, so we wanted to come and check out the running of the pugs,” she said.