Mobile phone network Three will be running a pop-up ‘All You Can Pug’ brunch to celebrate Puggerfly, the star of its latest ad campaign and, the network claims, the world’s first Augmented Reality (AR) pet.

Three has teamed up with the Pug Café, UK’s leading pop-up event provider for pugs, to create an immersive experience for dog owners and admirers alike. A limited number of tickets are available, priced at £5, which entitles the holder to one 75-minute brunch slot including one main breakfast dish, bottomless pastries, prosecco and coffee or tea, as well as food for their dog, if they bring one.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association.

The pop-up ‘All You Can Pug’ brunch, which will take place on Saturday May 12th, follows the recent announcement that Three has added Snapchat to its range of services offered as part of Go Binge, allowing customers to snap, chat and share without using their data allowance. Three also unveiled the new star of its ad campaign, Puggerfly, a squishy-faced, purple-winged pug, created, according to the network, to embody all things social and fun.

Puggerfly allows users to access different consecutive Snapchat lenses across seven days, letting them nurture and love their Puggerfly as he grows from a ball-chasing, rainbow-pooping puppyfly right through to a fully-fledged flying Puggerfly. Snap’s 12 million UK daily active users can interact with the animated dog, no matter what network they are on. Users can feed Puggerfly treats, play ball with it, enjoy sloppy dog kisses and even watch it twerk to dance music. The seven lenses launched on April 26th, one per day; after the seven days are up, they will be available to Snapchat users via Snapcodes that will be incorporated into Three’s UK wide advertising and media campaign.

The Pug Brunch was created and managed by Three’s PR agency, W Communications.

Three’s ‘All You Can Pug Brunch’ will take place simultaneously in London and Liverpool, with dog owners and admirers invited to head to Covent Garden Grind in London and Love Thy Neighbour in Liverpool for bottomless brunch dishes and the chance to pet pugs. Guests also have the opportunity to capture photos of themselves with Puggerfly’s giant rainbow poo statue (recently seen roaming London’s capital’s streets), dress up their pampered pooches as Puggerfly, or sample all seven Puggerfly Snap codes.

Consumers can book tickets for the one day pop-up pug cafes via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/Liverpool/ and https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/London/.

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Dogs Trust is running an immersive Virtual Reality experience to engage the public and demonstrate the impact donors can have for the thousands of dogs each year that the charity cares for.

Created for Dogs Trust by GOOD Agency and launched at The Ideal Home Show in London in November, people were given the chance to experience Dogs Trust rehoming centres as they had never seen them before.

The film places the audience in the middle of the rehoming centre, allowing them to experience the care, attention and love each of the dogs receive in the state-of-the-art facilities, It offers a rare behind the scenes glimpse into the care and facilities that Dogs Trust give to the UK’s favourite four-legged friends.

Following on from the launch, Dogs Trust will roll this VR experience out to face-to-face fundraising campaigns deploying the V R experience in locations across the UK.

Reuben Turner, creative director of GOOD Agency, says: “Virtual Reality is the perfect tool to rouse the curiosity of passers-by and make them want to investigate. It’s completely new for Dogs Trust, but shows the important work they do in a fun and uplifting way – and we hope it helps the face-to-face fundraisers attract lots of new sponsors.”

Kayleigh Barker, Head of Donor Acquisition at Dogs Trust, observes: “Sponsor a Dog is a hugely important scheme for Dogs Trust and we needed to engage busy people going about their days. This VR experience will show people the incredible work that really happens in our centres, something we couldn’t offer in real life.”

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UK pet charity Blue Cross has linked up with a PT and fitness instructor to create a new fitness bootcamp, Work Out Like A Dog, designed to help humans understand and appreciate the health benefits that dogs get from their favourite outdoor activities – by literally having people take on the role of dogs.

The class was commissioned from trainer Born Barikor by the charity to raise awareness of how exercise keeps dogs healthy and happy. High numbers of dogs arrive at the Blue Cross centres across the country due to behavioural needs stemmed from under-stimulus or lack of appropriate activities and exercise. Work Out Like A Dog  is the world’s first exercise class in which humans exercise like dogs – chasing a ball and bringing it back again and again and again, dashing around aimlessly, having a good old dig.

The exercises (which can be viewed on YouTube) last for 45-minutes and include aerobic and conditioning activities for humans which have either been adapted from a dog’s favourite exercises or have been directly inspired by man’s best friend. They include HIIT ball fetch, tug-of-war, Frisbee and a canine circuit routine.

Work Out Like A Dog combines full-body strength training with high intensity cardio bursts to tone, improve endurance and fill participants with positive energy – in much the same way that regular exercise helps dogs stay not just physically but emotionally healthy too.

The bootcamp will be running daily from Monday January 30^th to Friday February 3^rd  at 7.30am in London’s Victoria Park, meeting at the Park Pavilion. Spots are available to book via EventBrite with a suggested donation of £5 to Blue Cross. There is also a workout sheet available to download from Blue Cross for those who can’t make it to the classes.

Sarah Dickinson, Head of Media Relations for Blue Cross, says: “We hope the Work Out Like A Dog bootcamp will be an eye-opener for dog owners and would-be dog owners. Humans can communicate when they feel frustrated or want a change of scenery; if they need to let off steam with a good long run they just head out and do it. By contrast, most pet dogs are completely reliant on us picking up signals that they require some stimulation or have to spend some energy. This workout should remind everyone what a huge emotional and physical difference it can make when we get that right!”

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Insurance brand More Than has launched what it claims is the world’s first ever city tour bus for dogs, with every element of the experience designed to appeal to man’s best friend, in London.

The tour was created to promote MORE TH>N DOGGYSSENTI>LS, a new pet care and protection offering which the insurer claims provides “all the essential items for a happy and healthy dog, delivered direct to your door each month.”

Owners and their dogs were invited to sign up online for tickets for the tours via London-focused ticketing website www.billetto.co.uk. Tickets, offered on a first come, first served basis, entitled two humans and one large dog or two small dogs to experience a whistle-stop sightseeing experience of London last week, with three tours a day over three days (January 17th through 19th).

The carefully crafted bus route picked up passengers by Lambeth Palace and then took in some of London’s best parks and city centre dog walking spots, including Hyde Park, Kensington Palace Gardens and Green Park. Along the way, live onboard commentary for dog owners explored London’s canine history, including the ministerial dogs of Downing Street, the many corgis that have shared Buckingham Palace with the Queen, the location of London’s only dog cemetery and the home of the Kennel Club, with London’s biggest collection of dog paintings.

The route itself centred on a number of London’s most scenic dog-walking hotspots, including Hyde Park and Green Park, for owners to disembark the bus and take their pooch for a stroll if they chose. Guests were also provided with a handy leaflet mapping dog-friendly pubs, bars and restaurants in the area, where owner and dog can refuel together post-walk.

To celebrate the launch of MORE TH>N DOGGYSSENTI>LS, every dog owner joining the bus tour was also gifted a travel-size version of the MORE TH>N DOGGYSSENTI>LS box, containing treats and throwing balls.

More Than’s PR company, Cow PR, came up with the idea for the tour and created and executed it.

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