Pampered Pooches Put on the Dog for Charity

The model looked dejected in her curlers and pink negligee.

“She’s suffering the ultimate humiliation right now,” said Hillary Replogle of Huntington Beach. “We’re going to buy her a hamburger after this is over.”

But Freckles the basset hound reluctantly ambled onto stage as Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” blared from the sound system. She was one of 49 canine contestants who competed Saturday in the “Top Dog” fashion show at the Newport Dunes Resort.

Dogs trotted in with ballerina and cow costumes. Others wore tutus, bikinis and poodle skirts. One owner put her pug in a bicycle basket and dressed him as the extraterrestrial from the hit movie “E.T.”

The show was held to raise money for the Orange County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Dogs competed in six categories including best master/pet look-alike, swimwear, formal wear, lingerie, casual wear and Halloween costume.

“It was such a success last year that we decided to do it again,” said Lee Rutter of Newport Dunes Resort, a former stylist who came up with the idea for a dog fashion show. “It’s just a riot working with dogs and people.”

Some owners said it was doggone difficult getting their pets to cooperate.

“She was supposed to be an angel, but she ate her costume,” said Christine Peck of Newport Beach. So Dagmar, her German “honey dog” turned up at the show dressed as a devil.

Guido, a silky terrier owned by Paulette Downey of Santa Ana, came in a red baseball cap, white sweat shirt and blue jeans that matched Downey’s ensemble. Not too happy with his newfound fashions, Guido had to be coaxed into the car with cookies, Downey said.

Other canines needed more than a bribe. When Snuggles, a black Great Dane saw the pink poodle skirt she was to wear at the show, “She tore into the back room and we had to drag her out,” said Kathy Van Domelen of Costa Mesa.

Saturday’s top dog was Hokum, a brown Saluki who competed in all of the categories. She pranced onto the stage in black and silver sequins for the formal-wear competition and wore a leopard skin one-piece for the swimwear competition.

“I really had no idea that I’d be the Top Dog,” said Zarah Mahler, 9, of Costa Mesa, as she stood petting Hokum after the show. She also entered Johnson, her other Saluki, to compete.

“It was very hard work because it took a lot of time, but my dogs were very patient,” she said.

She said she dressed up Hokum and Johnson every day for a week to get them used to their costumes. For her efforts, Zarah won a year’s supply of pet food.

During the show, audience members cheered for their favorite dogs and laughed at owners who dragged uncooperative canines across the stage.

“I thought it was hysterical,” said Pat Williams of the Petco store in Orange. “The imagination some of these people have dressing their dogs. . . . I’d like to see their kids at Halloween.”

The event was co-sponsored by Petco and Iams, and the winners in each category received coupons for pet food. They are:

* Best master/pet look-alike: Bear, a 16-year-old black Labrador mix owned by Mary LaCrosse of Fountain Valley. Both came down the runway in matching blackbird outfits.

* Best swimwear: Nikita, a white Samoyed owned by Elaine Ruettiger of Orange, wearing a colorful grass skirt and leis around the neck.

* Best formal wear: Jimmy, a black Rottweiler owned by Sharon Montrief of Santa Ana, who was decked out in a top hat and bow.

* Best lingerie: Johnson the Saluki, wearing a purple and white harem costume with her hair tied in a ponytail.

* Best casual wear: Snuggles, a black, 180-pound Great Dane, owned by Kathy Van Domelen of Costa Mesa, who sashayed across the stage in her pink poodle skirt.

* Best Halloween costume: Mandy, a white lab owned by Kathy Dixon of Huntington Beach, who wore a clown costume complete with pointy hat and striped pants.