Pets & Their People features ‘how we met’ vignettes of dogs and their humans, uncovering the particulars of this unique relationship, from touching adoption tales to outlandish quirks.
If you don’t wake up to a chorus of humans belting out melodies about your gorgeous, little pug body, then your parents must not be Chloe and Cam. Chloe Hall, content producer at Glossier, Cam Wolf, style features writer at GQ, and Capone, their vain, yet reticent dog, let us crash some family time to chat about Capone, of course. The trio, all of which are originally from California, told us about Capone’s affinity for gymnastics and how such a small dog got such a big name, all while we played a game of Capone-sized chess on their roof.
Wild One: It seems like Capone runs the show. What’s the family dynamic?
Chloe Hall: I always say “it’s Capone’s world and we’re all just living in it.” Cam truly does everything for Capone - food, walks, all the basic necessities. He’s pretty much keeping Capone alive. Yet Capone comes running straight to me if he wants to sleep, cuddle, eat nachos, all of the mellow stuff.
Cam Wolf: If Capone gets the hiccups he immediately runs to her. He’s like “mom, something’s wrong with my body...help.”
CH: He’s definitely a mama’s boy. I talk to him nonstop and treat him like a human, and I think he loves that. We sing him songs, original scores if you will, which we call ‘Capone’s daily affirmations.’ He likes to dance while we sing to him. Most mornings Capone wakes up to lyrics along the lines of “you’re the best dog ever, we love you, you’re the best boy.”
WO: How did you guys find Capone?
CH: We got Capone super early on in our relationship. Looking back, it feels like what you shouldn’t do, but it worked out.
CW: Eight years later, it’s going well. We were about to move to Chicago, which is why we named him Capone. Of course the two C’s from Cam and Chloe worked well with a third.
CH: He’s from Paris, California, but we love to drop the California part and just say that he’s from Paris. We found a post online about a bunch of dogs who needed homes and went to visit. Capone was dead asleep in the sun, wanting nothing to do with us, while all the other dogs jumped at our feet and tried to get our attention. Capone was indifferent, he didn’t seem to care if we took or left him.
CW: There was this woman there whose relationship to the dogs and property was unclear. She basically told us that Capone was the best dog and we needed to take him.
CH: Her eyes were closed the entire time she told us this. It was strange, but she seemed wise, so we took her advice and brought Capone home.
WO: Aside from sunbathing, what are Capone’s interests and quirks?
CW: We’ve gotten used to it, which is strange in itself, but Capone does a full handstand every time he pees. I forget that it’s strange because we’ve had him for almost seven years, but we’ll have friends dog sit and they always report back on it.
CH: Capone is awake for about 30 minutes per day, but he does get really excited about photo ops. He’s such a sucker for attention and the limelight. He’ll cock his head just so whenever a camera is near, so we know he understands what’s happening. That leads me to another Capone trait, he’s a compulsive liar. You can’t trust a word out of his mouth. He’s a California dog so he hates the snow. He’ll walk outside, hold up a paw and give us eyes that say “mom, I’m injured.” We’ll continue walking and he’ll do the same thing with the other paw moments later. He builds on the drama if you buy into it.
WO: Have either of you ever written about Capone?
CH: Not yet and he doesn’t have an Instagram, but Cam and I have always wanted to start a mock dog account called K9 Magazine. It would mainly be photos of famous throwback dogs, like Lassie, and Capone would of course be editor-in-chief.
Photo credit: Sam Liebeskind
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