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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

It's a dogs life...Girl spends £100,000 on luxury for pet terriers...


Pampered pooches: The Yorkshire Terriers whose owner has spent £100,000 on spoiling them with a lavish lifestyle

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:36 AM on 8th February 2011
Shopaholic Louise Harris has spent a staggering £100,000 on her three dogs in SIX years.
Louise, 31, loves nothing more than spoiling her three Yorkshire Terriers Lola, six, Lulu, four, and two-year-old Larry.
The pampered pooches have their own £2,000 four-poster bed, £200 collars, £400 tiaras and £2,500 bespoke jewellery complete with rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
And Louise admits she even spent an incredible £4,000 on luxury Christmas presents last year - just on her beloved pets.
Staggering: Louise Harris has spent £100,000 on her three Yorkshire Terriers over a period of six years
Staggering: Louise Harris has spent £100,000 on her three Yorkshire Terriers over a period of six years
She said: 'Even I'm a bit shocked at the amount I've spent on them - it's totally barmy!
'But they are my babies and a part of my family. I love spoiling them and making sure they have the best of everything.
'A lot of people think I'm mad, and I realise it's completely over the top, but I want to give them the best life I possibly can.' 
Louise's splurge on her pets all started six years ago when her sister Olivia convinced her to look at a Yorkshire Terrier puppy called Lola.
She fell in love the tiny pup, which could fit in the palm of her hand, and started ordering clothing and collars online from America.
Luxury lifestyle: Lola, Lulu and Larry have their own four-poster bed worth £2,000
Luxury lifestyle: Lola, Lulu and Larry have their own four-poster bed worth £2,000
She said: 'I bought Lola the smallest dog collars I could find here but they were too big and really poor quality. When I ordered them from the States they just fit perfectly and you could see how much more comfortable she was.
'At that point I would never have dreamt of dressing her up but when it got really cold in the winter she was refusing to go outside so I bought her a jumper and as soon as she had it on she bounded straight out into the garden.
'After that I started buying her other clothes - before I knew it, she had a whole wardrobe!'  
In 2006 Louise added to her family by buying Lulu, now four, followed by Larry, who is now two.
Spoilt: Louise Harris spent £4,000 on Christmas presents for her three dogs
Spoilt: Louise Harris spent £4,000 on Christmas presents for her three dogs
Louise admits that the dogs do dominate a lot of her life, so any future partner would have to love them as much as she does.
She said: 'My dogs wouldn't come before my partner but they would have to be happy living side by side.
'A dog can't make its own breakfast so they would have to understand it's my priority in the morning to make sure they have food.
'But as its normally scrambled eggs we could all eat that and have breakfast at the same time!'  And with three dogs to kit out in the latest designer dog clothes, her spending has shot through the roof.
In six years she estimates she has spent a minimum of £101,680.
Bejewelled: The pooches own collars encrusted with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, swarovski crystal and gold leaf
Bejewelled: The pooches own collars encrusted with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, swarovski crystal and gold leaf
She spent £26k on clothes, collars, and harnesses, including couture item made just for Lola costing £400 features vintage brooch with crystals, £250 collars with swarovski crystal encrusted stones made with high quality leather, and bespoke jewellery consisting of 5 pieces with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, swarovski crystal and gold leaf costing approximately £400 - £500 each.
The dogs only wear their jewels for special occasions though - such as when they get dressed up for Christmas or go to a dog party - and Louise can spend more than half an hour picking out their perfect outfits.
Every Friday Louise takes her dogs to have their personal weekly massages and deep coat conditioning treatments at Diva Dogs, which has amounted to a whopping £14,560.
She has also spent £6,000 on beds and blankets, including custom made beds complete with initials in gold leaf and one with ostrich feather and finest faux fur, and cashmere blankets and pillows.
Each dog has their own ornate iron bowel costing a total of £800, steps worth £720 to allow them to get onto sofas, £8,000 worth of pet carriers, and £2,500 worth of hair accessories including two custom made tiaras with genuine pearls and Swarovski crystals costing £400 and £300.
She has also spent £4,500 just on Burns holistic food, £5,000 on dog insurance, £2,000 on photography and £3,000 on an oil painting.
The dogs have also been treated to £8,000 of toys and treats and £5,000 spent on their birthday parties complete with birthday cakes costing £60 each.
Louise realised there was a gap in the UK market for luxury dog products and set up her own dog boutique and grooming parlour Diva Dogs.
The shop has gone from strength to strength and clients now include television presenters and footballers wives.
Since starting Diva Dogs, Louise has needed to hire a nanny for her three dogs for when it is too busy to have them in the shop.
She has spent £15,600 making sure her dogs get the best care while she is work.
After Louise has cooked them their scrambled egg breakfast, the nanny - who she spent weeks finding after checking with clients for the best recommendation - takes them out for a long walk.
Louise said: 'My nanny is great - she absolutely loves all of them, but she refuses to take them out in any of their pink outfits!
'While I'm at work, she walks them, plays with them, and makes sure they get plenty of time outside.
'I wouldn't be able to leave them if I didn't know they were being well looked after.'  Louise's extravagant spending on her dogs has caused so much curiosity that she is even featuring on a Sky One TV programme A different Breed starting in March.
Louise said: 'Sometimes people are quite rude about the extravagant clothes and jewellery.
'I know I'm over the top and so is Diva Dogs - but that is why people are interested in us.
'My dogs are well cared for and are spoilt with love as well as presents so I don't see anything wrong with spending so much on them.
'They are obviously incredibly spoilt and sometimes I do wonder if I went a little bit too far as they are now accustomed to this life style.
'They won't eat any old dog food and they expect to be carried around all the time. Quite often they will sit in front of the sofa staring at me until I lift them up onto it!
'But I love them and they make me happy. I would like to maybe get another dog but I'm very happy with the three I have now.' 
Louise's mammoth Christmas shopping list for the little dogs included £750 on 15 outfits, £600 for three new doggy beds, a £150 dog car seat, £960 on a variety of collars, harnesses worth £90, and £120 for three Santa outfits and hats.
She also bought party collars worth £40, three £50 sweetie hampers, £200 worth of toys, snuggle blankets costing £75, £60 on advent calendars and Christmas treats, £100 on Christmas pampering, three Christian Audiger pet carriers totaling £450, three Christian Audiger pet bowls totaling £120, and £75 on sending Doggy Christmas cards to their doggy friends.
Her Christmas shopping spree for the three little pooches ended up costing a total of £3,940.
And Louise insists that seeing her dogs excitement on Christmas morning made it all worth it.
She said: 'I wrapped up some of the treats for them and they spent ages unwrapping them - they were all so excited, it was adorable.
'Some of the bones I brought were even bigger than them so they struggled to pick them up but it kept them entertained for most of the day.
'I put them in their little Santa outfits which are really cute and they loved their new blankets.'  
Louise spent Christmas day with Lola, Lulu, and Larry, at her mother Janet Sapiano's house in Chelmsford, Essex.
The dogs are used to warm scrambled eggs for breakfast, which Louise cooks for them every morning, followed by Burns Hollistic dog food as a late lunch.
So she was more than happy to treat the trio to Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.
Louise said: 'When we served dinner we set some plates down for the dogs as well so they ate with us.
'They had a bit of beef and turkey, pigs in blankets, and some roast potatoes.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354807/Pampered-pooches-The-Yorkshire-Terriers-owner-spent-100-000-spoiling-lavish-lifestyle.html#ixzz1DNLW7rOJ

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