WHAT’S A DOG TO WEAR?

Pampered pooches Mona and Bokkie have their own wardrobes, car seats, push chair and toothbrushes

MONA isn’t usually at home in the mornings – she’s at the office with her “mom”. But it’s overcast today and looks like rain, so sh e’s wr app ed snugly in a yellow blanket with only her face and the fur collar of her jacket showing.

And she isn’t going anywhere, thank you very much.

Still, Tattie Smit isn’t leaving the house before Mona’s morning ritual is complete. First, it’s time to brush her teeth. Toothpaste designed for babies’ milk teeth is squeezed onto Mona’s toothbrush – a pink one, naturally. Then Tattie cleans Mona’s face with a wet wipe before applying moisturiser and finishing things off with a dab of perfume behind each silky ear.

Mona the miniature Doberman isn’t the only pampered pooch in Tattie and her husband Willie’s home in Rayton, east of Pretoria. Bokkie the miniature Jack Russell – Mona’s beloved “brother” – lives here too. He has a blue toothbrush and a collection of outfits too.

But it’s Mona who has the dog’s share of the spoils. There are more than 80 outfits in her wardrobe and “about half a wardrobe full of clothes” in the Smits’ holiday home in Amanzimtoti near Durban.

An outfit is washed and ironed after each time she’s worn it. Vests and shirts RIGHT: Mona isn’t just a dog, she’s her human mom Tattie Smit’s little girl. BELOW: Mona shows off her takkies.