Competition hypes fashion and fur

Canines compete at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, vying for best in sleepwear, doggie tricks, costumes and even bikinis.For more than an hour Saturday, about 45 contestants strutted their stuff through a series of fashion competitions that included categories along the lines of formal wear, swimwear and a talent contest.

However, Saturday’s event was hardly like the Miss America pageant. None of the entrants was asked any questions to learn how she would try to change the world. Of course, it’s hard to articulate a political philosophy, when you communicate by barking.

A pack of canines -- and their human friends -- converged at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort on Saturday for the 13th annual Top Dog Show and Back Bay Bow Wow. Throughout the morning show, dog owners paraded their pets down a waterfront runway to the delight of a cheering, laughing and woofing audience.

The show may have been the only place in Newport where someone could have seen a dog wearing a pink bikini.

The top dog Saturday was Kylie, a blue-eyed, white, Australian shepherd mix, who thrilled the crowd during the sleepwear and Halloween costume competitions. For the sleepwear event, Kylie was decked out in a blue bathrobe with a stuffed monkey tied to the garment. She wore pirate’s garb during the costume event -- a buccaneer’s hook took the place of one of her front legs.

Kylie’s leg was amputated four years ago because of cancer, her owner, Stanton resident Theresa Croft, explained.

“I thought of that [costume] even before she had the surgery. I thought, she has three legs; she might as well be Captain Hook,” Croft said.

Because of the surgery, Kylie moved across the runway with a bouncy gait, as she depended upon her right front leg for support. She was a little slow getting up and down the stairs, but seemed to have a better go of it than a few other dogs who appeared to have a little stage fright when it was their turn to walk.

In addition to formal wear, swimwear, costumes, sleepwear and tricks, canine competitions for casual wear, cutest pet and owner-pet look-alikes rounded out the event.

The variety of categories meant dogs could be dressed in wedding attire, purple pimp jackets or punk-rock duds.

Resembling a 1980s hard-core fan, a Chihuahua-terrier mix named Nugget came to the show sporting a pink-dyed Mohawk and a black vest embroidered with his name and a skull-and-crossbones design. In the outfit, Nugget took second place in the cutest pet category.

The dog’s Mohawk is a natural feature of its coat, owner Mimaz Chautani said. The Laguna Hills resident said she plans for Nugget to take on an even tougher image in 2006.

“Next year, we hope to have a spiked collar,” she said. “We’re going to roughen it up.”

Among other novelties, the event had room for a dachshund dressed as a giraffe, a canine in a police officer’s uniform and another dressed as the king of rock ‘n’ roll.

For Marjorie Healy, the variety was a highlight of the bayside event. Healy, who lives in Newport Beach, participated in the show along with Meesha, her Pomeranian. Healy entered her dog in the look-alike contest, wearing matching red-sequined ballroom dancing costumes.

“This was really fun because there were so many interesting costumes for all the dogs,” Healy said.

20051030ip58rnknMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Nicole Lito of Newport Beach escorts her dog Lola for formal attire contest.20051030ip58tgknMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Bella Luna shows off her outfit for the formal attire competition.