A star’s best friend? From puppy adoptions as declarations of love to tattoos that keep a beloved dog close forever, stars indulge in the full life cycle of dog devotion. Some celebrities shower their dogs with lavish accessories, while others flaunt shelter mutts to broadcast their animal-conscious politics. Which celebrities are craziest about their dogs? You be the judge.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are only the most recent Hollywood couple to include their dogs in their wedding. Her flower-bedecked Maltipoo, Penny, and his rescue mutt, Baxter, were reportedly guest Martha Stewart’s “favorite part” of the celebrity nuptials. Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Puli dog, Beast, walked bride Priscilla Chan down the aisle at the couple’s surprise wedding.
Usher recently paid $12,000 for a Goldendoodle puppy at a charity auction for Pencils of Promise, an educational foundation, outbidding Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr. Last year, the singer lost out on bidding for a similar dog, but the winner named the prize puppy Usher in his honor. And PAWS/LA has auctioned off dog bowls signed and painted by such stars as Betty White, Ellen DeGeneres, Chelsea Handler and William Shatner.
Jessica Biel tweets to her 185,000 followers about her pit bull, Tina, using the hashtag #TuesdayswithTina. Other celebrities with pit bulls on the Pinterest board My Pit Bull Is Famous include Jon Stewart and Monkey, Katherine Heigl and Apollo, and Michael J. Fox and Burnaby. Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf from the age of 19 months, also owned a pit bull but never used him or any of her other pets as guide dogs.
On the other end of celebrity romances, dogs can spark custody battles fiercer than those over children. Until Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson reconciled, they were reportedly fighting over custody of Bear, a mutt they adopted from a high kill shelter in New Orleans. Stewart has also owned wolf-dog hybrids raised by her mother, and Pattinson was recently quoted as saying, “I hate people but I love dogs.” Britney Spears and Kevin Federline did go court over their dogs, after Federline won custody of their sons. And Drew Barrymore and Tom Green fought over custody of their dog Flossie, who saved their lives when their home caught fire.
Celebrities are the inspiration for some of the most popular dog costumes this Halloween. Dog owners can dress up their pups as Snooki or Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or Michael Jackson, Elvis or Pauly D, complete with wigs, fake breasts or biceps, and fur (faux, of course) booties. Americans spent $370 million on their dogs this Halloween.
Jimmy Fallon brought his new puppy, with the assertively unfashionable name Gary, onto his Late Night show for a training session with dog whisperer Cesar Millan. At the Emmys, Fallon compared the dog to a baby and said it was his “new best friend.”
Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio was criticized recently by PETA for dyeing her puppy pink and purple. Other stars who’ve been slammed by the animal-rights organization for dog-coloring include Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, as well as Jersey Shore castmates Snooki and JWoww.
Mariah Carey was sued for $37,000 by a vet who spent more than two weeks providing around-the-clock care for the singer’s sick puppy, Dolomite. Dr. Cindy Bressler claimed she tube-fed the dog and sent Carey videos of the puppy’s progress, only to be stiffed by the singer for the care bill.
Two crazy dog stunts collided when Pamela Anderson’s Malibu beachfront wedding uniting her golden retriever, Star, with her chihuahua, Luca, was interrupted by Sacha Baron Cohen in full Borat garb, who crashed into the wedding party in a raft.
Jennifer Aniston was so crazy about her faithful dog Norman that, when he died, she had his name tattooed onto her right foot. Aniston gave fellow dog lover Oprah Winfrey, who called dogs her “favorite role models,” a personalized yoga mat emblazoned with a pictured of Winfrey’s five dogs.
Charlie Sheen’s pug died not of embarrassment or a drug overdose, but of malnutrition. After ex-wife Denise Richards alleged abuse and refused to return another of Sheen’s dogs in March 2011, the actor tweeted, “We must bombard with Warlock Napalm, that traitor and loser whore
#DUH-neese POOR-ARD. A VILE KIDNAPPER AND NOW DOG THIEF. HATE.”
