This weekend I did something I have never in my life done before. I waited in line to meet a celebrity and take a picture. Not just any celebrity, but an Instagram celebrity. Not just any Instagram celebrity, but a dog Instagram celebrity. And I am not the least bit ashamed or embarrassed about it!
The dog is named Tuna and he is a “3 year-old Chiweenie with an exaggerated overbite, recessed jawline and a magnificent wrinkly neck.” He was at Barkbox HQ this weekend to raise awareness and money for local shelters as part of #thetunatour.
People react pretty strongly to this dog, one way or the other. I have loved Tuna from the minute I saw him — I have a soft spot for dogs that are a little different in some way. Over the years, Tuna’s fame has grown and there are now 780K+ people following along with Tuna on Instagram.
I got to spend about 5-7minutes with Tuna and his mom Courtney and it was everything. His mom is patient, kind, understanding, and very very smart. Tuna is funny. He’s a dog, just like mine. He scampers around barks and wants treats and is totally cool being handled by hundreds of adoring fans.
When I posted the picture that had been taken of me and Tuna on my Instagram feed, I thought I might get maybe double the likes I usually get — bringing my highest number of likes for any one picture up to about 60-65. What actually happened pretty much blew me away. One picture with me and Tuna earned 123 likes! That’s an insane number! Tuna’s pictures average likes in the tens of thousands, but for me this was a game changer. It brought in new followers and catapulted my picture to a new level.
I also recently started an Instagram feed for my awesome dog Rugby. I posted a collage of pictures from the Tuna meet’n’greet there and we doubled the total number of followers and hit triple the number of likes on a picture in less than 24 hours. Amazing how one brand can boost another.
Meeting Tuna was cool. Waiting in line with the hundreds of other people to meet Tuna made me feel part of a community. And if he ever comes back to town, I would do it again, because #tunameltsmyheart.
Actual footage of me meeting Tuna in April of 2014.