Adelaide the Un-Model
Adelaide’s journey with clothes and why she may not be America’s Next Top Dog Model.
I’m sure you’ve seen them...the fashion models. No, I’m not talking about Heidi Klum or RuPaul...I’m talking about fashion DOG models. Believe it or not, there are legitimate dog models out there. Of course, our favorite is Iggy Joey. Not only does she model just about every outfit under the sun, but an image of her dressed like Britney Spears was even turned into a quite fashionable Zara tee. This fashionable tee was seen on just about every proud iggy owner last summer - including me (Jess, Adelaide’s mom).
Why is Adelaide not a fashion model?
You may remember our previous blog about modeling... Adelaide makes a great model. We’re not saying that she doesn’t love the camera. The challenge we’ve been working on is getting Adelaide to love her clothes (both on and offscreen). We’re not just working on this because she would make a great fashion model...it’s honestly out of practicality for the breed.
Italian Greyhounds in particular wear more clothes than the typical dog. It’s not just because they’re fashionable AF by nature, but it’s out of necessity. Iggies have a low body fat percentage and if you’re wearing a coat outside, they should be too. How might one know this? If you take your little IG outside without a coat when they need it, your little IG will be shaking in a matter of seconds. As well-informed iggy owners, we bought the staples: a rain coat, a onesie, and winter coat/vest. A few of the extra purchases were made for fashion reasons, but we prepared for function first.
Rain Coat
Jess was very excited to make this purchase because it was Adelaide’s first outfit! Canada Pooch, a great Canadian company, has some really amazing and stylish clothes. The rain coat did not disappoint. We got Adelaide a Poncho size 10 because we knew she’d need to be wearing it soon after we got her, which meant that she’d still be very small. We learned that the typical size for iggies ranges from 10-14. Adelaide has always been on the small side, but we were warned that she might grow quickly.
One thing we learned from the rain coat/poncho purchase - Adelaide doesn’t like walking in the rain. The rain coat did little to help her get over the enormous drops of cold wet rain falling from the sky. It is by no means a fault of the garment. The poncho is quite functional, with an adorable pattern and even comes with a hood! We learned that extreme weather is not Adelaide’s favorite thing, and while the raincoat helps us to keep her dry, she is still not very motivated to walk when she wears it.
Onesie
We found Adelaide’s first onesie at HomeSense (the Canadian equivalent to Marshall’s or TJMaxx if you’re in the US). It was extremely reasonably priced and adorable. We got her an extra small because again, we wanted to have something that would fit her when she was really young. We didn’t know if she would like wearing it but thought we’d take the risk on something she could at least wear right away. Turns out, that Adelaide doesn’t like wearing onesie’s very much either. It’s not that she is visibly upset when she wears them, but she tries her best to bite the garment off of herself and has even successfully wriggled out of it. One technique she uses is to push her body up against all couches, chairs or tables in order to aid her in her pursuit of removing the clothes. She is one determined lady (see former blog post about being a TAURUS). While the onesie is not necessarily vital to an iggy wardrobe, we have tried to acclimatize her to wearing them sometimes so that she can prepare for the great outdoors of Canada in winter.
Winter Coat/Vest
RIP to Spaw Boutique’s Boutique portion of their business (a local groomer that formerly had a full boutique filled with pet products)...but we were grateful for their amazing closing sale. This is where we acquired Adelaide’s favorite and most practical outfit - her puffer vest. Another well-made garment from Canada Pooch, we call this her winter coat because, honestly, it best functions in that way even if it’s technically only a vest. Since we’ve learned that Adelaide is a little resistant to wearing clothes, this has proven to be the easiest thing for her to put on and it keeps her relatively warm in cold weather. The beautiful thing about the vest is that we can layer up! We purchased a Beaver Canoe onesie from PetSmart after a Canada Day Sale but it was a little oversized. Flash forward to Winter and it functions beautifully as the under layer to her favorite vest/coat.
Winter Snow Suit
One of our most exciting purchases and unfortunately biggest flops - literally. Adelaide’s favorite color is yellow, so we were over the moon to purchase a Muttluks snow suit for the cold winter ahead of us. We were lucky to find a booth at the Canadian Pet Expo that was selling them and had availability in her size. We tried her in it and she fit perfectly. Little did we know that there was no chance in hell that she would walk in it outside. We took it home and didn’t think about it again until the winter really set in.
Adelaide experienced her first snow and wasn’t entirely freaked out about it. Honestly, we think she kind of liked it! We put her in little balloon boots and her layered up vest combo and away she went frolicking into the snow. We wondered, will she do the same thing now with the big snow suit? Oh hell no. The weirdest thing about the snowsuit is how stiff she becomes when she wears it. For some reason when she tries to walk, she apparently forgets the science of walking. She doesn’t remember to put one foot in front of the other. Instead she tries to escape from her suit with one front paw. The issue with this is that one paw removed doesn’t get her out of the suit entirely. In this case, she is left flopping on the ground like a carp out of water. She wasn’t hurt or in any grave distress, but after several attempts with treats...we decided to give it a rest for a while and try again next year.
Honorable Mentions that were more for fashion than function:
A chic burgundy winter coat with faux fur from Ruff Stitched, a Canadian company (we had a great photo shoot in the fall where she loved wearing this one, it might be too small now though - would consider buying something similar again)
A soft plush onesie with a hood, also from Ruff Stitched (it was a little big at the time so she found her way out of it pretty quick)
A red sweatshirt onesie from PetSmart (looks adorable but makes her walk a little funny because the back legs are not open)
An adorable jean hat from Canada Pooch (does not stay on her head for more than 2 seconds)
Pink hoodie sweater “I ❤️ NY” (fit well at the time but is too small now. She actually liked this one a lot because it was just a sweatshirt and didn’t cover the back legs)
The biggest observation we’ve had about her success and failure in clothes is that many clothes that are good for dogs are not specifically great for iggies. Italian Greyhounds have a bit of a weird shape with their long legs, long necks, and barrel chests. Adelaide in particular is very small, weighing only 9lbs now at what we believe to be her full grown size. Our next purchase will definitely be from a more iggy-focussed clothing line. We are looking into all the options! Many of them are located abroad so we are hesitant to buy and have something shipped at this time.
Will Adelaide ever be a model?
Adelaide’s fashion modelling career is not something we were seeking but it’s also not something we were opposed to either. As actors, we love to wear costumes and get dressed up. We hoped our little girl might enjoy it too, but it seems like the stars are just not aligning for her to become America’s Next Top Dog Model. We are not completely shut off from trying more clothing on her. She does wear some items very well and looks damn cute in them. However, we’d have to say that the nail in the coffin on her professional career as a dog clothing model was when she ripped through her post-spay medical shirt (TWICE) like some kind of iggy Hulk. We thought it was a fluke the first time. Maybe she had rubbed up against her crate during the night and accidentally ripped a hole in it that just got bigger. We had a mini heart attack when we returned home from a quick trip out of the house to find Adelaide in the nude. She wasn’t supposed to be out of her shirt in fear that she would lick the incision and we’d have to go back for more surgery. We love the team at Queen St. Animal Hospital, an amazing veterinary hospital right down the street from us. As scared dog parents, we wanted to bring her back in after this Houdini escape from her shirt to make sure nothing was wrong with the incision. Luckily, they saw us first thing the next day and she did not end up licking the incision too badly. In fact, they told us that Adelaide’s incision seemed to be healing ahead of schedule. Happy with the news, we took Adelaide home with a new medical shirt and went on our way. Funny enough, Adelaide somehow managed to Hulk her way out of her shirt for a second time. This is when we realized that maybe it’s just not in the cards for Adelaide to be a full-time model.