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Paws-itively joyful: Victoria woman spreads warm fuzzies with ‘pup-arazzi’ pictures

@RubeeMeetsDogs Instagram account gathering attention with its happy dog encounters
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Victoria woman Rubee Twohig created her Instagram account @RubeeMeetsDogs to help combat online negativity. (Instagram/@RubeeMeetsDogs)

A Victoria woman is bringing some ‘paws-itivity’ to social media with an Instagram account dedicated to the region’s four-legged residents.

Rubee Twohig, 19, started documenting her interactions with Victoria pups in summer 2019 while working at Kid Sister Ice Cream in busy Fan Tan Alley. With permission from their humans, Twohig would feed the canine visitors small waffle cones while her co-workers documented on their phones.

READ ALSO: Vancouver Island’s wingnut dogs need love and training, too

Soon, the Instagram account @RubeeMeetsDogs was born. Twohig posts pictures of the dogs she meets, usually with a little anecdote about the pup’s personality.

“There’s so much bad news out there that I think everyone needs some positivity,” Twohig said. “Last spring was so hard and there was so much darkness. … It was nice to have something like ‘oh, here’s this silly dog who like to wear hats.’”

From meeting an English bulldog named Meatball to repeat run-ins with a puppy named Cookie, Twohig appears to get as much joy from the interactions as her followers.

READ ALSO: Lost Vancouver Island dog found after 12 days in snowy wilderness

“It just is like a little breath of fresh air,” she said. “It’s a nice little positive part of people’s days.”

Currently, she has about 500 followers, but Twohig’s fan base is growing. She laughs and says she was recently recognized on the street and her boss made her business cards to hand out to new talent (people who let her photograph their dogs.)

Twohig doesn’t have a long-term plan for the account, but for now she hopes to keep spreading joy, one canine at a time.

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