Lady And The Blues Golden Retriever Questions & Answers

Meet Lady.

She’s a smart but sassy Golden Retriever who has been making dog lovers smile on social media over the past couple of years.

There’s a good chance you’ve already met Lady seeing as this goofy girl has been featured heavily on social media, in the media and even on a Hollywood A-lister’s Instagram channel!

Providing a hilarious insight into day-to-day life with a Golden Retriever, it’s easy to see why Lady’s account has become so popular on Instagram where she has over 30,000 followers.

We spoke to Lady’s owner Erika to learn more about Lady, her personality, their success on social media and their creative process.

1) What attracted you to the Golden Retriever breed?

Lady and the Blues (Photo: ladyandtheblues / Instagram)

Their friendly temperament and goofy personalities! It’s funny because I also loved the fact that many Golden Retrievers are great at swimming and then Lady turned out to be the complete opposite! She loves playing with the water but not swimming!

2) How did you end up with Lady? Is Lady your first dog?

Growing up I had 7 family dogs and they were all rescues. So it was my dream to get my own Golden Retriever one day. Living in a tiny apartment in Tokyo and working crazy hours I just never got to get my own dog. When my husband said he has an opportunity to move to the States I immediately said “we are getting a Golden Retriever named Lady!”. So she is my first “own” dog. My husband on the other hand, grew up with cats and had two of his own. He had no idea what it’s like to be a dog owner and frankly didn’t want one. I had to convince him, but he fell in love with Lady.

3) For those who haven’t come across your account before, how would you describe Lady’s personality?

Sweet and sassy! Many people would think Lady is 100% sweet especially if they never met her in real life, because she’s super friendly and loves all kinds of humans. If you watch some of our longer videos where we film in a more natural stage you would see how sassy she is! She always has something to say to us! Smart and silly! While she is a very smart dog who knows many tricks etc, she could be the silliest, clumsiest dog in the world! You will see how silly she is if you watch our viral video called “Not all Golden Retrievers are smart”. Overall, it’s very entertaining to watch her all day.

4) What does an average day look like for Lady?

Lady and the Blues (Photo: ladyandtheblues / Instagram)

We wake her up around 8:30 am and she actually hates waking up that early. She would take one step on the stairs and sit like a gargoyle with a grumpy face. We call it Grumpy Lady. Then she takes a nap until noon. Her batteries get fully charged around 5pm so that’s when we go out for a long walk at the beach, play with other dogs, swimming etc.

5) Does Lady have a different relationship with you and your husband?

Yes, very different. I train Lady so she listens to me more. But that means I make her do things all the time. My husband is more like a boyfriend to her. She cuddles more with him, I call myself the third wheel in this family.

6) How does Lady react when the camera comes out?

I think she knows it’s time to work. It might be because that means she gets treats and does fun things for me. If I’m just filming on a natural stage, she really doesn’t care much. It’s part of her life at this point.

7) Is it funny seeing how engaged your followers are when it comes to Lady’s relationship with Dad?

Lady and the Blues (Photo: ladyandtheblues / Instagram)

Totally! I love when people call me a third wheel too, it’s just SO TRUE. I hope our female followers will get a male dog for themselves haha.

8) Have you flirted with the idea of expanding your pack with another dog?

Definitely. We love dogs and Lady loves playing with other dogs so it will be a great thing for us all. We have fostered 5 puppies since April 2022, and Lady has been a wonderful foster sister.

9) Why did you decide to start social media accounts for your dog?

I hated social media before all this, I didn’t even have an IG account. I started this account only because I was bored without a job and I love photography. Even though I rarely post pictures anymore, that’s how I started this account. It became my full time job, and I love it!

10) Did you have a post that really kick-started your growth?

I think it was a puppy video of Lady floating with heart balloons (my husband was lifting her behind a tree) that went viral and got featured by many big accounts like Enews and Countryliving.

11) Do you have a favourite platform? If so, why?

Instagram! Just because that’s where we have many loyal followers who have been following us for more than a year. It just feels like home, and that’s why I spend most of my time there.

12) Would you say running Lady’s account is a full-time job? How do you balance day-to-day life with social media work?

Lady and the Blues (Photo: ladyandtheblues / Instagram)

Yes, it is definitely a full time job. I would say more work than 9-5 job in a way because I’m always thinking about content, and filming non-stop. I can never watch TV, movies or listen to music without thinking “hm maybe I can use this”. I’m not sure if I’m balancing it all, but I have a roughly fixed schedule each day. I spend all morning posting and engaging, and the afternoon is either filming or editing. In between those times I do errands and housework, then after 5 pm we always do things with Lady.

13) Can you give us some insight into your creative process?

Like I said, I’m always thinking about content, and whatever comes to my mind, I just email myself so I can look back later. Sometimes it’s just a good song with a drop I found on TikTok, and I brainstorm the idea later. I also keep good videos that might be useful in separate folders in the Photo app so it’s easy to find them later.

14) Do you have a favourite post?

Oh so many! But if I need to pick only one, it would be Lady’s air swim video that was featured on Jennifer Garner’s page!

15) What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting a social media account for their pet?

I don’t have much advice but I can say that it’s a great place to connect with so many wonderful pet owners who are crazy about dogs as much as you are, and you don’t meet those people elsewhere! So yes DO IT!

16) Can you tell us your funniest Lady story?

The funniest one is when my husband was outside and Lady was chasing him from inside the house. She was chasing him along the wall but suddenly stopped because she saw herself in the reflection on our fireplace…she made this really confusing face and I just laughed out loud. It’s one of my favorite videos.

17) What’s the coolest opportunity/experience that Lady’s social media stardom has allowed you three to enjoy?

The coolest thing we’ve ever done was going to the movie premiere for Paws of Fury organized by We Rate Dogs. It was Lady’s first VIP moment walking on the red carpet and people cheering her name like a true celebrity! We also got to go in the theater and watched the entire movie with her. She is not a service animal so it’s very rare that we experience something like that. We really had the best time together.

18) What would you tell yourself knowing what you know now if you could go back to when you first got Lady?

Lady and the Blues (Photo: ladyandtheblues / Instagram)

TAKE MORE GOOD VIDEOS. I always regret that I had a crappy phone and bad lighting…. There’s never enough puppy pictures and videos!