Six fashionistas tell Deirdre McQuillanabout their four-legged friends
They are not just fashion accessories or date baits, but members of the family. Dogs and how one looks after them have become style statements, and dog fashion is a growing market. Websites dedicated to dogs, and magazines with names such as Bark and featuring stories titled "Ruff justice" or "Zen and the art of canine maintenance", are flourishing. A new book, Knitting for Dogs, contains patterns for sweaters, hunting jackets and glamour coats, "the perfect way to spoil a pet that spoils you".
In fashion, celebrated designers such as Ben de Lisi, Vivienne Westwood and Philip Treacy are seldom seen without their mutts. And during London Fashion Week, an annual "dogwalk" show called Pet à Porter takes place to raise money for guide dogs for the blind. Here in Ireland, there is no shortage of loyal pet supporters in the fashion fraternity.
MARIAD WHISKER, designer, with PARKER, a mongrel, possibly a wheaten terrier
"I found him in a dog pound in Santa Monica, and he was jumping up and down about six feet in the air in a cage, going mad trying to get into the next one. We already had an iguana and three rabbits at that stage, but the minute I saw him I was smitten. We were a couple of sops; Charlie had fallen in love with a velvety Labrador in another cage, but we took Parker who had been a rescued street dog and who had been given to an old lady who couldn't handle his neurotic energy. He would have been put down the next day otherwise. It took a good few years to calm him down, and he used to cower as soon as a man came into the room, and would strain away from Portakabins.
When we came back to Ireland, he went into quarantine for six months and we used to visit him every Sunday and he became a bit socialised.
He is bi-polar, up one day, down the next, and we have certainly had our ups and downs with him. He was fine until the last five house moves . . . I moved so many times, he didn't know where he was or where I was. Every time I left the house, he cried at the top of his voice and people started to call the RSPCA.
He ate through skirting boards and the main frame of the French windows and even the metal door handles with his teeth. He was suffering from separation anxiety and being left alone, so I had to take him to a dog psychiatrist at the veterinary college in UCD. He made me retrain him. He was whining and whingeing and we tried xanax, for panic attacks in humans, but it didn't work, and then anti-depressants, and that seems to have worked a little.
He is incredibly gentle, doe-eyed and will want to be friendly and will now tentatively sniff males and then accept them. He takes food with great gentility and is a great character with a sixth sense about me. Sandra, my assistant, is in love with him as much as I am and he comes into work with me every day and sits at my feet. I find it amazing that he knows whether it is a friend or foe coming through the door - he senses things three doors away. A new courier, for example, will send him barking like crazy. He has made friends with one of the stray cats in the car-park - I saw them nearly nose to nose - and goes dumpster diving, so he obviously feels he is back in LA."
ANDREA ROCHE, model, with SNOWY, Maltese terrier
"I had dogs years ago at home in Clonmel, one called Jack and another little dog, a Pomeranian, but when you live in an apartment you can't keep them. So when we finally moved into a house, I was able to get Snowy. I had seen Maltese terriers in the States - they are Chinese lapdogs and a very ancient breed, but I had to wait eight months before I could get one because they are hard to find and only have two pups a year. I got her from a breeder in Mitchelstown, and she's the light of my life now. She puts me in a good mood and only ever barks when she sees a stranger.
Training her was tough, but I taught myself how to do it through books. She's a very quiet dog, loves walking and is very intelligent and loving. Her hair grows very long and as I like to keep it short, I have to bring her to the groomer every month, so she is quite high-maintenance. She has only ever seen two other dogs and wanted to be friends and play with them. I don't think she realises how small she is because she barks at really big dogs, through the gates.
I left her on her own as a baby so she is used to being on her own and has about 20 toys she likes to play with. She is really spoiled and has two beds and likes to sleep at the back of the sofa and sometimes at the end of my bed, though I don't like to encourage that. She recognises lots of words and can do a few little tricks too. People are really weird the way they talk about their dogs, don't you think?
Dogs are great for people who want to exercise because walking with them doesn't feel like exercise, and they are great with children. They don't grow very big. I get slagged over her name which I know isn't very imaginative, but she just looks snowy, so the name suits her."
BARRY McCALL, photographer with BOO, a Tibetan terrier
"I didn't get my first dog until I was 18 because my father wasn't really into dogs. It was a wheaten terrier, a true Irish breed, but he passed away when he was nine. As my life is settled now and I have a house and a girlfriend, I thought it was time to get a dog. When I saw Amanda Pratt's Tibetan terrier jumping up and down outside the window in Avoca, I fell in love with it. Pat McCarthy, the designer, has one too and so have Amanda's brothers - the dogs were originally bred by Tibetan monks.
A birthday was coming up (mine) and lo and behold, I was taken to a Siddhartha breeder in Tallaght eight weeks before my birthday - my girlfriend Kari had been secretly looking around - and I found him. He is a little ragamuffin, even though he has a pedigree, and a real individual little so and so. They get attached to one or two people max and they don't want to leave your side. He comes into the studio with me every day and is used to people.
He is four years old now, a robust little fellow, not a namby-pamby dog. He likes to greet everybody coming into the studio, but doesn't demand attention. He's very respectful. He has often managed to find his way into the Polaroids - and he likes the camera, especially when he is wearing a red hoodie or a skull and crossbones coat that Kari got for him.
He eats dried food mostly, but on Sundays we give him scrambled eggs and he will roll around the floor afterwards with delight. He has a habit of lying on his back looking at the ceiling when he's happy. We have a 1971 Karmann Ghia and he loves riding in the car with a scarf around his neck with the roof down.
I called him Boo because my uncles used to call me Barry Boo when I was a child, so I have passed the name on to my dog. I am not selfish about my own time anymore because of him - I get up and take him for a walk at lunchtime in the Phoenix Park and I just love him to bits. He brings me so much joy."
MARY BRUTON, make-up artist, and GLORIA SWANSON, Yorkshire terrier
"We got her from a friend who was moving house in April who said we would know immediately why she got her name, and when I went to visit her I just loved her instantly. She looks very glamorous with her long hair, and she just throws her head back and poses as if for the camera.
She may have been an unwanted Christmas present, because she was found abandoned in a street in Wexford with her twin sister who had been shot in the eye. We think she is about three years old. My children Cillian and Emer, who are seven and four, are animal crazy and wanted a puppy, but a breeder told me that a puppy is really like a baby and needs training and attention. It is not a good idea for children, because the animal needs its sleep and it gets picked up and disturbed. I love dogs, grew up with them and mind other people's when they are on holiday, but I didn't want a big dog. Getting a dog was not a flippant thing; it was a serious decision, but now the children treat her like a puppy.
She has a coat and a Fair Isle sweater, but she hates putting them on even though she shakes with the cold without them. Kids' hearts melt when they see the "dog with the jumper". If there is any compassion in you there is nothing like an animal to bring it out. She loves the car and if there is a car door open she will run in. She tries to stare out over the steering wheel and looks as if she's driving the car - it's all about the view. At teatime she sits and watches all the traffic going by and everyone coming home from work. There is a very glamorous dog up the street and she hates it with a passion - I think she is jealous. We thought we had lost her one day recently and we were all devastated. She has brought something lovely into our lives."
GILLIAN LEAVY, designer and owner of Eden in Dundalk, with RUBY, a boxer
(Gillian has two other dogs: Molly, a wirehaired fox terrier, and Darcy a bull terrier)
"We never had dogs at home, only cats and that was because my sister won one by accident - it's stupid to give an animal as a prize. But coming up to the Christmas before last, with my dad ill and my defences all over the place, I saw Molly in a pet shop in Dundalk and I said, James, stop the car. She was a little ball of white fluff, 12 weeks old, and she came home with us on Christmas Eve. She was mollycoddled completely, hence the name.
We got Ruby because we both felt Molly needed company. She was eight weeks old, from Cork, when I saw her in the pet shop, I rang James. We took her out of her cage and she put her head on James's shoulder and that was it. She is a very dark brindle, very graceful, small, slim and statuesque. She's like a hare in the garden. When Ruby got bigger and wanted to play, Molly didn't want to. Molly pitter-patters around and doesn't run. Ruby is very gentle, a bit of an idiot really, noise frightens her, but she likes to sit in the front seat of the car, head up, looking around, whereas Molly doesn't like the car.
Darcy came down south from Belfast. James's sister bought him for her son, but her son turned out to be allergic to dog hair, so the dog had to go. People use bull terriers for fighting and it is awful, and children were taunting Darcy, so we took him in. It is hard to rehome a dog, but we took them for walks together and they get on now. He was checked out by the other two and wanted to play with Ruby, nudging her around, though Molly wanted none of it. We are a sight, so we are, when we go out with Eden, my daughter, in the pushchair holding Molly's reins and me with the other two on a double rein.
I find it hard to give attention to all of them, but I love them to bits because if you like dogs, you like dogs, and they have great personalities and we find ourselves drawn to others with them. I got their Jackson twins' beaded collars at a dog boutique in Phoenix, Arizona, where my sister lives.
You need time and advice about breeds when you have one dog and want to get another. Their personalities develop and you have to try not to create jealousy. They are a great talking point for Eden at school - she is always so excited by them."
SONYA LENNON, stylist, with PEARL, a Staffordshire bull terrier
"Staffies are maligned; people think they are fighting dogs, but the more people I've met, the more people love them, and they are becoming more popular. We got Pearl from Clonmel at six weeks old - I have always loved dogs and cats and grew up with Springer spaniels. I knew that starting a family was in the picture and did a lot of research about getting a dog for nearly a year. I love bulldogs. They are a healthy breed, good with babies and make good family pets. I have twins now, 11 months old, and they adore her. The little guy thinks she is the best toy ever.
She is a real live wire, very bright, very enthusiastic, very loving "a tireless love sponge" as somebody put it once. She just wants to be with her people and is an indoor dog though she loves galloping along the beach. In fact, she is having too much fun on the beach now and needs a dog training session. She walks around the twins and gives them an occasional lick. We couldn't think what to call her, but as she is pure white, a friend suggested the name.
Though we think she is very pretty, bulldogs look kind of mean, and when our pet insurance representative came along, he thought her name was Peril! Pet insurance is around €190 a year, but it's worth it because if you do run into medical problems it can cost a fortune. You get a reduction if the dogs are electronically chipped because they are more traceable and can be identified.
Staffie owners are a real fraternity and the dogs are popular in the North Strand, where I live. They are muscular and strong, bred with a very wide head and small hips. I like the idea of bringing up children in a household with a pet. Some say there is a lower risk of asthma and eczema because their immune system is able to cope with hairs. I don't know, but I must say I love watching the kids with her; it is a good feeling. There is a love and a bond there that you don't know unless you are living with an animal. Anyone else sees a dog; you see a personality."