A dog groomer is so obsessed with her own pets she spends a staggering £2,000 a month ‘furjazzling’ them – complete with manicures and fur extensions.
Daniela Forshaw, 37, dedicates her life to her five dogs – Coco and Mia the greyhounds, Harry the Beagle, Mulan the miniature poodle and her favourite pup Venice the poodle.
She has her own grooming parlour where she spends her time dying and trimming their fur, and even matches their nail polish and outfits to her own.
The dog owner cuts and dyes their fur into anything from rainbows, tiger stripes, and ostriches and even has extensions put onto their tails.
Her spoilt pooches have their own wardrobes where they have custom-made tutus, rain coats, life jackets and even Ugg boots.
Daniela and partner Mike Forshaw, 42, have even decided not to have children because their dogs are like five human babies.
“My dogs are with me all the time,” said Daniela, who has been a dog groomer for six years.
“They’re the centre of attention, 99 per cent of people say positive things but people do comment and say it’s not to their taste.
“But a lot of people feed their dogs too much or don’t walk them enough. I may dress mine up but but my dogs are the best kept dogs in the country.
“My dogs don’t have much dog food at all, they aren’t over fed. They are walked a lot and they enjoy being pampered to the extreme.
“I have had to massively cut down on spending on myself because so much goes on them.
“It’s around #2,000 and it’s hard because dog grooming doesn’t really make that much money but I don’t care.
“Having the dogs is just like having five human babies and people spend a lot of money on their children.
“I don’t care how much money I spend, they come first.
“They are massively spoilt but at the end of the day I don’t have kids and we are happy the way we are.”
Every year Daniela, from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, holds birthday parties for her beloved pets and makes them wear party hats.
Her pooches are also part of a ‘doggy elite’ attending red carpet parties that can cost up to a five-figure sum.
They serve up ‘muttinis’ and canopies made by private dog chefs.
She said: “Only Venice really goes to the red carpet parties as she’s the most confident and enjoys being papped.
“The parties serve up raw lamb, meatballs, biscuits and porridge on the canopy platters.
“The muttinis are made out of things like banana puree, full fat milk and cinnamon.
“I just love it, it’s exciting an I’ve met a lot of new people along the way.”
Her business, Daniela’s Dogs, provides her clients’ pets with any design they ask for.
The business owner is so good with a pair of scissors she has turned a Bichon Frise into a Poodle.
She is now entering the Extreme Creative Grooming Competition with one-year-old Venice.
In November 2013 Daniela appeared on ITV’s The Only Way Is Essex when she was filmed grooming the casts’ dogs.
She gave reality star’s Jessica Wright’s Yorkshire Terrier Bella had a ‘Queen of Reem Fur-Jazzle’ using Swarovski crystals from America, and a ‘pawdicure’.
In March 2013 Daniela appeared on an episode of Snog Marry Avoid with her Pink Poodle Venice.
And in April 2013 Daniela and her pack of dogs appeared on Channel 4’s Superscrimpers to find ways of saving money after splurging out on her pampered pets.
I want to ask why she does this? What does she get out of “pampering” her dogs so much?