Follow Friday: Mister Gus Goldendoodle
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Follow Friday, at a Glance
Connect with Mister Gus Goldendoodle on Instagram:
There are many, many dogs of Instagram, but one who has caught our eye is Beacon Hill pup Mister Gus Goldendoodle. He’s taken Instagram by storm, much to the surprise of his mom Karen Fabbri—owner of Moxie Boutique. The 11-month-old shines in photographs taken around popular Boston venues, with sassy captions to match his spirited grin. With nearly 800 followers, Gus has quite the fan club, both in and beyond the Commonwealth. Here, we catch up with Gus’s mom to learn more about him.
Could you give us a bit of background on Gus?
Gus is only 11 months old. He will turn one next month, on March 22, so he’s only a baby! He’s a great dog. We had two senior dogs that passed in 2014—a 15- and an 18-year-old—and we were ready for a young dog.
What is Gus’s history with your family?
We have kids, so we wanted someone that would be really family friendly, and I have allergies, so I also needed a more hypoallergenic dog. And so we started looking into goldendoodles and wanted a small sized goldendoodle, and we were so thrilled to find that they exist. We found this great breeder in Alabama called Smeraglia. It’s called teddybeargoldendoodles.com, and you should go on this website because you will fall in love. You will just die! Look on the puppy page, it’s amazing!
How would you describe Gus’s personality?
First, I’d say that he’s very self-confident, especially for a puppy. He’s not aggressive, he’s not an alpha, but he’s not subservient either. He seems to read other dogs to be able to respond appropriately based on either their size or their energy level. His dog walker always says that he’s kind of like the peacekeeper—she can walk him with any one of her dogs and he’ll get along.
It’s really interesting to see that in such a young dog, he kind of just knew how to adjust his play. He loves to play. He’s definitely a dog’s dog. When I take him to the Common, he’s just thrilled to run and run and run and wrestle. And we’ll plan playdates with other dogs. His girlfriend Piper comes over, and they love to wrestle, and jump, and roll, and they’ll do it for hours. Like everybody—every person he meets, every dog he meets, he’s very eager to make a connection.
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Given his personality, how does that carry over into his Instagram persona?
That’s an interesting question, to figure out what comes first—him doing it and me interpreting it, or me interpreting it and kind of impersonating him.
I would say maybe 60 percent of what I put is based on something he’s done and what he could actually be saying. Forty percent is what I make up because dogs can’t actually think like human things, but I like to think that that’s his personality. He’s very chill with us, but then sometimes I’m talking to him or doing things to him and I just think he’s saying “Really? Give it a break, Mom.” I don’t know, I think it’s a very big question. The pictures definitely speak volumes and the words are the humorous take I have about his experiences. I tend to have a sense of humor, and he is just a happy, fun dog, so I assume he has a sense of humor too.
How did you initially think of starting an Instagram for Gus?
I was just taking literally hundreds of pictures. I have more pictures of this dog in the last 11 months than I do of my kids in the last 12 years. Since we got him in the summertime, I had him out so often in iconic places around Boston. I had him out with the Ducklings, I had him on the Esplanade. The kids went to camp at Harvard and MIT, so I thought it’d be kind of fun to show a goldendoodle in Boston. That’s how it started.
When I was looking for dogs, I’d look on Instagram and on the Internet. I use Instagram for my business [Moxie Boutique in Beacon Hill], and it seemed like a fun, easy way to share photos of him. Apparently the goldendoodle Instagram crowd is huge. He has more followers than my store, which is ridiculous.
Could you describe your experience running his online profile in three words?
Funny, satisfying, and positive. It’s all goodness.
A photo of Gus was retweeted by CNN iReport. Can you share what that was like?
It was a surprise—I watch CNN a lot and they asked on air for pictures of what it was like in Boston. We tagged them, and they picked it up. I got a call from them asking to get permission in case they wanted to use it on air as well. That was surprising, and I was thrilled, of course. Then we saw they had run it on their feed online, and that’s where we got the screenshot of it.
I have to say I wasn’t wholly surprised given the attention his Instagram has already gotten. I mean, the dog is just adorable. I talk to other people with goldendoodles, and they’re all gorgeous dogs, but this one is special. There’s something about his markings and his expressions, and you can really see his facial features. When he had that picture in the tundra, I just kind of figured it would be a non-gloomy photo, which might be a nice alternative.
Responses have been edited and condensed.
