Bow-wow Bling in the Edmonton Journal

Like their masters, dogs dress in designer collars and sparkly jewelry

Jennifer Fong
The Edmonton Journal
June 30, 2009

Trudy McKill spoils her Yorkie-Pom Meeka with Swarovski crystals and pearl necklaces; ...
Photograph by: Candace Elliott, The Journal, Edmonton Journal

DOGOPOLIS

We'll have dog stories in all our feature sections this week. Tomorrow in Bistro, doggie treats so yummy you'll want to eat them yourself!

For more canine content and a gallery of readers' puppy pics, go to edmontonjournal.com/pets.Upload a photo of your dog for a chance to win a $200 gift card from PJ's Pets and a Pedigree food sample pack.

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Two-year-old Yorkie-Pom Meeka might not be a pitbull, but she's got plenty of fierce.

In the winter, she dresses in puffy purple jackets and faux-fur-lined Juicy Couture. In the summer, she's got an Ed Hardy T-shirt and a crystal-studded track suit, both in pastel pink--her favourite colour.

Then there's the hundreds of dollars of bling around her neck: today, she's paired two Swarovskicrystal-studded collars with a string of rose-coloured faux-pearls, from which two silver pendants hang.

Tyra Banks would be proud.

"I've always dressed her up, from the time she was a little baby," says Meeka's mom, Trudy McKill, 59, of Sherwood Park.

"I'm an animal lover. My animals were always taken care of to the point of the extreme. If I ever die, I want to come back as one of my animals," she says, laughing.

Grandma's knit sweaters just don't cut it anymore for pups and pup-parents with canine Next Top Model aspirations. These days, pet owners are spoiling their babies with designer leashes and sparkly jewelry -- all the rage right now among small-dog owners, say local experts on four-footed fashion.

"Pets are no longer pets, but are now family members," explains Raymond Parker, owner of the Urban Dog on Whyte Avenue.

"People are having children at later stages in life. It's somewhat like spoiling your own little baby, your own child."

Everyone is asking for studded collars, paired with Tiffany-style charms, Parker says. Most will also opt to customize the collars with Swarovski crystal letters that spell out Fido's name.

This swing to bling reflects what's popular in mainstream fashion, says Krista Castellarin, owner of Fabulous Furballs in Sherwood Park.

Faux pearls are favoured by many of Castellarin's older pet owners, who often tell her, "This is my Yorkie Coco. Can we get her some Coco Chanel pearls?"

The younger crowd, meanwhile, tends to be drawn to glitz and glitter, she says, and lots of it.

"The (dogs) might be rocking their Coach lead or collar, then a couple different necklaces layered so it kind of follows the trend of what their owners wear, too," Castellarin says.

McKill, owner of south-side McKill Staffing Services, has been in business for 10 years, but like everyone else, she's worried about the economic recession. Still, she says she'll never stop treating Meeka like a princess.

"If she's taken care of, then I can be at peace with myself," says McKill, who wears only a single silver chain around her own neck. "I think that no matter what happens, my animals will all be provided for."

It's a generous gesture, because doggy diamonds don't come cheap. At Fabulous Furballs, a pearl necklace starts at $24. Prices then go all the way up to $500 for Diamond Dog collars studded with the finest Swarovski.

For the decidedly discerning, longtime B. C. diamond and fine-jewelry designer Michele LaVie makes pet-friendly pendants of fire hydrants and dog bones, all crafted in sterling silver. Cubic zirconia and synthetic birth stones are used for accents.

Few manufacturers use real silver when making jewelry for dogs, says LaVie, who promises all her Paw-Purr Bling products are lead-free and made in Canada. Available online and at select pet stores in Calgary, they range from$39.95 to $75.95.

As for Meeka, her biggest splurge so far has been a $125 three-tiered crystal collar.

McKill explains that she first started dressing Meeka when she was just a puppy, too tiny to brave Edmonton winters without some kind of protection.

This doesn't explain Meeka's filet mignon dinners and regular manicures. (Today, she's rocking purple nail polish.)

But with Meeka's heartbreaker of a smile and the kind of fluffy caramel-coloured fur you find only on stuffed animals, it's easy to see why McKill dotes on her. Let Meeka try to steal a kiss and it's like she's just daring your heart not to melt.

McKill is a natural caregiver --even her son, now 30 and a body builder, still gets pampered, she says, only half-joking.

"I think I probably treat her just as I would my son," she says, cradling Meeka in her arms. "But maybe I wouldn't dress him in a pink hoodie."

jfong@thejournal.canwest.comwww.twitter.com/jenfong

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