Meet Northampton pug Junior who has shot to stardom appearing in upcoming film with Joan Collins
Meet Northampton pug Junior, who has shot to stardom having completed filming for an upcoming movie alongside Joan Collins – and she took a real liking to him.
Junior belongs to Michelle Wilson, who runs award-winning business Teddy’s Dog Care on Newport Pagnell Road, and it has continued to go from strength to strength since it was founded in 2010.
Michelle was inspired to launch the venture after she adopted her pug Teddy, as she wanted to expand her love and care to more dogs across the county.
Teddy’s hosts a number of themed events throughout the year to allow owners to get involved, as they usually drop their pets off and it is the staff who get to have all the fun.
The business prides itself on being a unique commercial doggy daycare, as they offer a home environment. This includes a cosy patio and garden with soft furnishings, a large paddock with adventure playground, and the fact it is cage-free and free roaming.
Sadly, Michelle’s 13-year-old pug Teddy passed away four days after Christmas in 2022 and it was around a year later when Michelle brought home her new puppy Junior to help her cope with the loss.
Junior has slotted in perfectly to Michelle’s life and the love she has for him is shared by people all over the world, as he has a following of more than 200,000 across all social media platforms and this includes more than 43,000 on Instagram.
Junior’s following has only increased over the past year, as he was cast to play the part of Joan Collins’ pug in a film called My Duchess which is hoped to be released later this year.
As the owner of Teddy’s Dog Care, it has been amazing for Michelle to see Junior gain national and international exposure – having also appeared in a television advert with world famous footballers Kaka, Thierry Henry and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
“He gained traction on Instagram through viral videos and he’d gain thousands of followers overnight,” Michelle told the Chronicle & Echo. “People started getting in touch, including someone from an agency for animal talent who places them in modelling, television and film roles.”
The person knew that Michelle owned her doggy daycare and asked if she could help them in their search for five pugs for a film. Alongside putting Junior forward, Michelle said she would put the word out there – especially as she is also the admin for the Northants Pug Group on Facebook.
Having put Junior’s name in the hat, he was picked up and taken down to a swanky London apartment to meet a confidential actress appearing in this film. He was not allowed a chaperone to accompany him and was dropped home that evening.
Michelle was told upon his return that he was completely at home jumping on everyone’s laps, and made a great impression on the lead actress who was a little nervous about working with dogs. This is why she wanted to meet the prospective lead dog, also known as the hero pug.
“He was dropped back that night and when I kissed his head it smelt like expensive hand cream or perfume,” said Michelle. “I thought, where have you been Junior? I then got a phone call to say that the actress loved him and it was Joan Collins. The boy did me proud.”
A regular pug who attended Teddy’s Dog Care called Monty was also recommended and took part in a couple of months of training and six months of filming alongside Junior.
As part of that, they were trained in very specific tricks on command like sitting, staying, laying down, pretending to sleep and Junior learnt how to do a fake wee up someone for a scene in the film.
The dogs were spoiled on set and Junior and Monty were included in the three pugs chosen out of the five on set to be photographed for June’s Vogue magazine, as well as appearing on their social media.
A picture of Joan and Junior together has even featured on her Instagram as a collaboration with Junior’s page @juniorbearpug, which Michelle was completely taken aback by.
“It’s super cool,” she said. “I’m so proud of him for being a good all-rounder. He’s happy, playful, doesn’t react to humans or dogs, and takes it all in his stride. We’re just having fun with it and people recognise him from Instagram. I wonder if it’s going to spiral anymore or if it’s going to stop here.”
Michelle wanted to give a special mention to the family of pug Monty who appeared alongside Junior, as he sadly passed away at Christmas time last year. Monty was at Teddy’s Dog Care the day before he died from a brain tumour, and his family look forward to the release of My Duchess as it is an immortalised memory of Monty.