SINGAPORE — Type in @muffincan into a Google search, and you’ll find pictures of Muffin, a Shih Tzu with over 63,000 followers on Instagram.
The nine-year-old dog (a male which loves eating, according to its Instagram introduction) belongs to Can Zhi Ying, a freelance art teacher.
The dog is pictured eating treats, licking its nose, and wearing ridiculously adorable outfits, from a “mermaid” suit to hats and bow ties.
Can, 28, started Muffin’s feed in 2013. Her mission was to make him famous.
“I noticed that dogs were very popular on Instagram and thought that Muffin could be famous, too,” said Can, who got Muffin from a Pasir Ris pet seller for S$1,200.
“Muffin has many cute quirks,” she said. “He often sticks out his tongue, so it looks as though he’s smiling all the time,” she said.
She, and other pet owners with animals that are popular on Instagram, will be at a meet-and-greet session on Saturday (April 14) at the second annual Pet Expo.
Her strategy was to amplify the cute factor with accessories that she owned, but was not using. Hair ties, clips with flowers on them and more have all been used on Muffin.
Can started with 300 followers, but that number jumped to a few thousand after one picture was reposted by Barkbox, an American company that sells monthly subscription “boxes” with pet treats and toys. Its Instagram account currently has over 1.3 million followers, and its repost helped shoot Muffin to Insta-fame.
From then, Can began spending on costumes for Muffin. She has some 100 in a collection, ranging from suits to Halloween-themed costumes. She has spent around S$400 to build the collection.
Hashtags were key to building a following, said Can. She would use everything from #ilovemydog to #worldofcutepets.
Today, Muffin’s followers grow steadily. When Can got the feed started, she would post two to three times a day, but can sit back and relax a little now that Muffin’s fame has grown. She only posts once a day, but each post can generate at least 1,000 views.
A recent popular post, uploaded a month ago, features Muffin getting a haircut. It garnered over 1,100,000 views.
Can cannot quite put her finger on why certain videos or pictures grab attention, although trends help.
The haircut video, for example, showed Muffin getting a “round” hair cut, and perhaps that is why it got so much attention, she said. Grooming, by the way, is sponsored by her pet groomer, thanks to Muffin’s fame.
Muffin and Can will be at the Pet Expo on Saturday (April 15), along with other famous Instagram pets of Singapore.
Asked if she wants Muffin to star, say, in commercials, and Can — also has a personal Instagram feed but keeps it low-key as she is a “private” person — said that she would consider offers. But ultimately, she simply enjoys the attention Muffin gets.
“Just let him be famous,” she said.
She will be at a meet-and-greet session with other pet owners with Instagram-famous pets, at the PetExpo on Saturday (April 15).
BUNNIES AND KITTIES ON THE RISE
It is not just dogs, naturally, that steal the spotlight on Instagram.
Anything cute and furry will generate views, as Angel Liew, 21, will tell you. The trainer in an e-commerce business is the owner of two adopted rabbits, Eskimo and Kiwi, a five-year-old orange Holland lop Dutch mix and two-year-old chestnut Netherland dwarf. Pictures and videos are posted under @eskimoloaf, and the Instagram feed has some 32,200 followers, some from the US and Europe.
Liew started the account in 2014, when her friends complained that her personal feed contained too many pictures of the rabbits.
“There are many posts of them being loving and sweet together. Eskimo dotes a lot on Kiwi,” Liew enthused. Pictures and videos of them sleeping, eating and being bathed take pride of place on the account.
The post that made them famous was one of Kiwi eating a piece of coriander that really shot them to popularity.
Kiwi is “tiny and short”, Liew said. “When vegetables are large or long, he will stand on his hind legs, tilt his head back” and greedily try to eat as much as he can without stopping, she said.
The video garnered 31,687 views. It helps that Kiwi seems to enjoy Liew’s attention.
“He seems to know how to pose for photos,” she said. Her strategy is to simply let the rabbits be themselves, and let the views come in.
The key is to “build trust with your pets … (and) make them happy” as these will lead to good pictures and videos — and, eventually, fame.
“There are likes and comments coming in (all the time), and I do enjoy reading them and talking to people about (the rabbits),” she said.
One cat that is making waves in the Instagram world is KingKing, a five-year-old short haired cat. It goes by the name of @fantastic_kingdom and has some 10,500 followers.
Owned by marketing executive Chen Xiu Hui, 31, who adopted KingKing in 2012.
KingKing is the star of the account, but Chen’s other cats, KiraKira, another short-haired cat; Kismet, a flamepoint Himalayan; and Kylila, a Persian, all feature in daily posts.
The cats doing tricks, such as KingKing high five-ing Chen, will do well on Instagram, she said.
But at times, the cats just being natural also generate hype.
The most popular video post for the feed is a video of Kylila watching a YouTube video of birds. “She looked into the screen, then turned her head to look at the camera,” said Chen, adding that it was as though Kylila was aware that it was being filmed.
The cats grooming each other, play-fighting and sleeping are all winners with viewers.
Like other pet owners, Chen gets a thrill out of her pets being conversation-starters.
“I’ve been keeping cats for the past 15 years. Before Instagram, I’d post pictures of them on Facebook, and share cute things about them with my friends,” she said. “Now, I get people from all over the world becoming aware of them.”
Pet Expo is on from April 14 to April 16 at Singapore Expo Hall 7. The meet and greet will be held on April 15, from 4pm to 5pm.
