The internet has a new pair of award-winning dogs. At the TOI Power Creator Awards 2026, Keeping up with Pacey and Dino, which chronicles the daily lives and adventures of a toy poodle and a Bichon Frise, won the Popular Choice Pet Content Creator Award. While accepting the award, the dogs delivered a live demonstration of why taking two dogs to an award show deserves its own risk assessment. Chaos ensued, and the stage became an extension of what their followers already know, these are not dogs particularly interested in following a script.
So, who exactly are Pacey and Dino? And why does their corner of the internet look considerably less like the perfectly curated world of pet influencers and considerably more like a household where the dogs are in charge and the humans are merely unpaid staff?
Pacey is a toy poodle with the demeanour of a retired aristocrat. Selective, observant and occasionally judgmental, he seems like the sort of dog who would reject an invitation because the guest list did not meet his standards. Dino, a white Bichon Frise, is his enthusiastic opposite. Affectionate, energetic and committed to being involved in absolutely everything, he approaches life as though personal space is a conspiracy designed specifically to inconvenience him.
Together, they make calm less of a lifestyle and more of a temporary technical glitch. Their Instagram page, Keeping up with Pacey and Dino, documents the wonderfully imperfect reality of living with dogs. There are interrupted photographs, derailed routines, dramatic reactions and moments of behaviour that leave their humans wondering who, exactly, is training whom.
But the page is not just about the comedy. Alongside the everyday chaos, it explores the questions that come with sharing a home with animals. It examines accidental bullying between dogs and how pet parents can recognise when an interaction has stopped being playful and one dog is becoming uncomfortable. It explores pet pharmacies, the essentials of putting together a pet first-aid kit, and even which home fragrances may be safe around dogs. These are the practical, sometimes overlooked details of pet parenting that rarely make it into picture-perfect social media feeds.
That mix of humour and information gets to the heart of what distinguishes pet content from mindful pet content. A funny video can make someone stop scrolling, laugh at an adorable face or send a clip to a friend. But it can also leave viewers with a better understanding of the animal on their screen. Is the joke funny because the dog is delightfully ridiculous, or because it is frightened or uncomfortable? Is the animal being respected in the process? Can entertainment make people more attentive to the needs of their pets?
The questions matter because dogs are not accessories designed to fit neatly into human routines. They have individual personalities, emotional needs, fears and ways of communicating. An anxious dog is not necessarily being difficult. A dog who needs space is not being unloving, and a dog who behaves differently from another is not defective. Understanding them takes patience, observation and a willingness to learn.
For pet parents, learning often begins with ordinary experiences, a behaviour they cannot explain, a health concern they did not anticipate, or a household product they never thought might affect their dog. Sharing those experiences can help others ask better questions and make more informed choices. The conversation can extend beyond individual households, too, to abandonment, irresponsible breeding and the treatment of community animals. Nobody wants to be lectured while watching a dog do something spectacularly stupid. But perhaps a funny video can make someone curious about their own dog’s behaviour. Perhaps a relatable story can prompt a pet parent to seek advice or reconsider an assumption. Humour can make conversations about animal welfare less intimidating, without diminishing their importance.
That spirit extends to The Living Room, Pacey and Dino’s pet-parent community, where people can exchange resources, ask questions and discuss the realities of raising animals without pretending to have everything figured out. It is a space where admitting that your dog has outsmarted you is likely to be met with sympathy, solidarity and a story about someone else’s dog doing something even more ridiculous. A community of like-minded pet parents who recognise that loving an animal and understanding it are not necessarily the same thing. The latter takes work, and shared experiences are the starting point.
The Power Creator Award is a milestone for Pacey and Dino. But what makes their page interesting is not the award itself. It is that the chaos people witnessed on stage is the same chaos that exists at home. There are no carefully constructed personalities waiting behind the scenes, no attempt to make the dogs appear more sophisticated, obedient, or impressive than they are.
In a world obsessed with presenting the perfect version of everything, there is something refreshing about allowing animals to be gloriously imperfect.
Real dogs are not always graceful. They are not always convenient. Sometimes, they are an absolute disaster. But they are also the creatures who greet us as though we have returned from a three-year expedition when we have merely stepped out to buy bread. They make ordinary days extraordinary, turn houses into homes, and somehow convince us that cleaning up after them is a perfectly reasonable way to spend an evening.
Perhaps the most important thing they teach us is that love is not about perfection. It is about making room for the mess, the madness, and the personalities that refuse to fit neatly into our expectations.
For more information:
https://www.instagram.com/paceyanddino?vrfl=MThodGdrMXlidXQ3bg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
This Press Release has not been vetted by The Eastern Herald and is sourced by VMPL
