Dressed up doggies bark bark like Lady Gaga for charity calendar (From News Shopper)

Dressed up doggies bark bark like Lady Gaga for charity calendar

10:29am Sunday 11th December 2011 in News By Robert Fisk

PAMPERED pooches are putting their paws up for 12 months of Lady Gaga style fundraising fun by appearing in a charity calendar.

But rather than being exactly like the preened popstar it is more like Lady Bark Bark as the calendar’s creator Maria Alexander worked tirelessly to model each month on a stage from the singer’s career.

Born this Way becomes Bark This Way and the global number one smash hit Poker Face is represented by a puppy in an image entitled Puppy Face.

It came about because Miss Alexander, of Bromley Common, Bromley, loves dogs and loves Lady Gaga.

And the 55-year-old does not see why rescue dogs, which feature predominantly in the calendar, cannot be as stylish as the singer.

She said: “I just love her music and love the idea of dogs that have had a bad time strutting their stuff like Lady Gaga.

“Don’t be a dog, just be a queen.

“Put your paws up she says to her fans and I think dogs should just bark this way.

“It is all about loving yourself and positive messages.”

The self-published author started the calendar by selecting pictures of dogs she had taken during work on a book about rescue dogs called Happy Endings.

She then matched them to shots of Lady Gaga and photographed props and clothing before using photo editing software to make the final images.

Miss Alexander, who is also a fulltime carer for her mother, said: “It took about three months and it was like a treasure hunt really, finding all the right clothes and everything.”

She is now working with a Lady Gaga impersonator on a video for the calendar with the unfinished video available to watch at izzypublishing.co.uk

The calendar costs £8.75 plus £2 postage with all proceeds going to animal charities, Last Chance Animal Rescue, The Dogs Trust, St Mungo’s, PDSA Pet Aid Hospital Tower Hamlets and Comic Relief.

It is also available at the Last Chance Animal Rescue shop, 69 Chatterton Road, Bromley Common.