The Daily Telegraph

Are these the poshest pets in Britain?

‘Pawsecco’ and designer clothes – a new TV series reveals the secrets of our most pampered animals. Radhika Sanghani reports

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‘Honey has an entire wardrobe made up of Chanel dresses, bikinis, bathrobes and Nike trainers’

As I walk into the Clarks’ large farmhouse, a Chihuahua dressed in a pink tutu struts across the hallway and greets me with a delicate, peach nail-varnished paw.

“That’s Honey,” explains Debi. “She’s my princess.”

Honey is not the only member of canine royalty on the Clarks’ luxurious Kent estate. Bob, 70, a retired profession­al poker player, and Debi, the 52-year-old founder of child modelling agency Bizzykidz, have 13 dogs: four Chihuahuas, three Chinese crested, two dobermans, three chi-chis, and one miniature Chinese crested. All are free to roam the four-acre grounds (“it’s completely secured with a fence and security cameras so they won’t accidental­ly escape”), before settling into their ‘doggy house’ – a large customised shed with bunk beds, a radiator for winter, and a new air-conditioni­ng unit for summer.

“We want to make sure they’re cool during the heatwave,” explains Debi. “We do everything we can to make sure the dogs are healthy and happy.”

This is something of an understate­ment; the Clark dogs may be the best kept pets in Britain. They dine on fresh chicken, carrots and broccoli (“I’m up at 7am to make it every morning,” says Bob), sip mock ‘dog beer’ and ‘pawsecco’ (“ice-cold, or they won’t drink it”) and enjoy a range of handmade aromathera­py cooling oils for their pampered paws, not to mention specially blended canine cologne (“Chinel number four for the Chihuahuas”).

The dogs’ health, insurance and grooming bills come to a monthly total of £700, but their individual quirks cost extra. Fi-fi suffers from travel sickness, so Debi has created a lavender spray to calm her down before a trip to the vet, while Bob gives daily physio to their rescue dog Peggy, who is missing a paw.

Honey, the only dog to really love wearing clothes, has an entire wardrobe made up of Chanel dresses, customised bikinis, bathrobes and Nike trainers. “She probably has about 200 outfits,” admits Debi sheepishly.

The couple feature in ITV’S The Secret World of Posh Pets, a six-part documentar­y looking at some of the most spoiled animals in Britain, from Norfolk terrier Tommy, whose owner paid £5,000 for an artist to paint his portrait, to a mother-anddaughte­r duo breeding African pygmy hedgehogs for strictlyve­tted clients.

It also explores the smartest British ‘kennels’ such as House of Mutt where dog owners can leave their pets for around £50 a day, to nap on “squashy” sofas in front of the fire and scamper around fully-fenced paddocks.

“More and more, people are treating their pets like furry children,” laments Emma Dale, a behavioura­list trainer, or as she puts it, “a kind of dog psychologi­st.” She charges up to £190 an hour and has come across some of the poshest – and most disturbed – pets in Britain.

“I’ve seen dogs hand-fed fillet steaks out of cut-glass bowls,” she says. “I’ve seen people indulge their dogs and sit them at the table like they would a child. One client was having terrible problems with her dog chewing its collar, or rather a

£50,000 diamond bracelet she was using as a collar. There was diamond poo all over the floor.”

But even she is blown away by the Clarks’ decision to wed teacup chihuahua Honey to chihuahua cross Joey in a £4,000 doggy wedding.

“It was just going to be something small at first,” explains Debi, who came up with the tongue-in-cheek idea after noticing Honey and Joey constantly kissing and cuddling. “But like with your own wedding, the whole thing completely snowballed.”

The result was an official ceremony with 60 guests invited. There was a hot dog stand for the humans, a dog cake for the canines, and human cake for everyone to enjoy.

Honey, in a customised dress, arrived on a horse-drawn carriage, while Joey waited for her in a crocheted top hat. The rest of the bridal party wore gold collars encrusted with diamonds and dined on dog sushi and pawsecco, while guests left with wedding favours.

“It was an amazing day,” says Debi. “It was just a chance for us to have a big party. People thought we were mad, but they absolutely loved it.”

She and Bob are well aware they will be judged for spending thousands (they say £4,000 is a very conservati­ve estimate) on a dog wedding, but they don’t care.

“It’s something we enjoy doing,” says Bob, defensivel­y. “It was a one-off and it gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. We don’t criticise people for going out to meals five times a week. If they want to do that, fine. But this is what we do. We don’t go out to eat much, and we haven’t been on holiday for four years. After working all our lives, why can’t we have the pleasure of doing what we want?”

But critics like Dale also point out that spoiling pets can lead to behavioura­l problems in the future. “People forget what their animals are, and then they get weird issues,” she explains. “They can get separation anxiety because their owners never leave them, they have no recall because they aren’t let off the leads at an early age, and they chew furniture and demand attention.

“The happiest dogs I see are farm dogs, dogs with a job, like collies who round up sheep or police sniffer dogs. Busy dogs are happy and balanced. It’s dogs that are bored with everything done for them and half an hour in the park who have problems.”

The Clarks have largely managed to avoid most of these issues by taking their brood for four long walks a day, and keeping them well-trained with obstacle and agility courses. But they have needed Dale’s help in the past, and Debi admits that she and Honey both suffer from separation anxiety when they’re apart from one another.

“They really love their dogs,” sighs Dale. “But they didn’t understand pack mentality – there was no pack mentality. It was my job to show them how to deal with such a formidable-sized pack. The problem is that as a society, we’ve made dogs into Theresa May when they want to be the tea lady.”

The Clarks are unrepentan­t. “Is it spoiling [them] if we make sure they’re fed, groomed, taken care of and walked?” asks Bob. Debi adds: “We just see them as extremely loved and cared for. They’re our children. We love them as much as our kids.”

In fact, her 27-year-old daughter Sadie thinks her mother’s obsession smacks of a midlife crisis.

“Sadie thinks that now she’s married, I’m trying to replace the idea of having a little girl to dress up,” Debi laughs.

“She’s probably right, but I don’t care. We’re all happy and the dogs are so happy. I know I’m mad, but I’m madly in love with our dogs. What’s wrong with that?”

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 ??  ?? I do: having spent £4,000 on catering, dresses and miniature horse-drawn carriages, Debbie can enjoy her Chihuahuas, Honey and Joey, tying the knot
I do: having spent £4,000 on catering, dresses and miniature horse-drawn carriages, Debbie can enjoy her Chihuahuas, Honey and Joey, tying the knot
 ??  ?? Husband and woof: the Clarks are unrepentan­t at throwing a £4,000 doggy wedding
Husband and woof: the Clarks are unrepentan­t at throwing a £4,000 doggy wedding

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