Wanna walk?
Take a Sunday stroll with Lainey Lui and her adorable pups
There are dog people, and then there’s Lainey Lui. Along with husband Jacek Szenowicz, she’s pet parent to Barney, 10, and Elvis, 5, a pair of brotherly beagles who The Social co-host, eTalk co-anchor and founder of LaineyGossip.com fully admits are beneficiaries of an ultra-spoiled situation. Just consider their sophisticated peanut butter tastes: “I buy roasted, unsalted peanuts, then personally grind them up in my Vitamix for them,” she says of the dogs’ nightly snack ritual. “I will have the Kraft and the Skippy, but they get the unprocessed and all-natural.”
Despite her natural affinity for dogs, animal companions weren’t much of an option for Lui growing up. (“My parents could win an Olympics for cleanliness,” she says, referring to their household’s anti-pet policy.) It wasn’t until her 20s, after a dog-sitting stint for a friend yielded a strong case of puppy fever, that she threw herself into breed research. Lui’s prospective pup couldn’t be too big (she and Szenowicz were living in an apartment then) or too high energy (a requisite immediately knocking out Jack Russell terrier types). Ultimately, it was learning that the beloved cartoon character Snoopy was a beagle that sold her on the eventempered hound.
Enter Barney and Elvis, two personality-plus pups who’ve completed their little family. The canines’ introduction to each other five years ago wasn’t without its hiccups (“I’ve never met a lemon beagle that isn’t high-strung and freaky,” she says of Barney’s distinctive breed), but soon after, the pair became inseparable, a convenient foil for beagles’ inherent separation anxiety.
Their brotherly bond comes with the kind of rivalry that only siblings would understand. ”Barney has been known to narc on Elvis,” says Lui. The younger of the two — the “naughty” one with puppy-like energy, she says — often gets up to hijinks in the couple’s basement. “Barney will come upstairs, kind of look guilty and be like, ‘Um, you might want to go downstairs because some stuff’s going down,’” she laughs.
Like so many pet parents, Lui doesn’t think twice about anthropomorphizing her dogs; she’s keenly aware of their sensitive nature and mood-detecting intuition, qualities that have proven beneficial for both her and Szenowicz throughout the pandemic. Whether laughing at their goofy antics or partaking in a cuddle with one of them to satisfy the missing-physical-touch aspect of quarantine, they found Barney and Elvis to be a constant source of comfort. “Anyone who has a pet will understand this: they are your most faithful companions,” she says.
Beyond boosting their owners’ mental health, the couple’s dogs are always a good reason to get outside. Weekends see the family clocking more than 20 kilometres throughout the Beaches, a neighbourhood undeniably less convenient for Lui’s downtown-based work life but a sacrifice she was willing to make. “Where we live is 100 per cent because of our dogs,” she says, noting that the vast green spaces and waterfront make for ideal walking paths.
When Lui and Szenowicz’s frenzied schedules don’t allow for long-distance jaunts, they lean on outside help, yet another decision for their pups that was made with careful consideration. “You know when parents care about what school their kid is going to get into? We had to have the best of dog walkers; we needed the Mary Poppins of dog walkers,” Lui says. (If you’re wondering, said dog walker even has an English accent.)
Going all out for Barney and Elvis — whether it’s rearranging her schedule to accommodate them better or letting them roam free within the house while she’s live on camera — is second nature for Lui; it’s just what you do when you’re a true family unit. “We never say ‘It’s just the dogs,’” she says. “They are full, respected members of the family. This is their home.”
Anyone who has a pet will understand this: they are your most faithful companion.”