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When Upper East Sider Rosa McGee first found out about this week’s lookalike contest for dogs who resemble their owners, held on Wednesday at Industry City in Brooklyn, she didn’t hesitate to enter. But first, she went shopping.
Her first stop was a pet boutique in Chelsea, where the engineering manager bought her French bulldog Lisa — named after cartoon icon Lisa Simpson — a $60 yellow dress with an attached denim vest.
Next, she went thrifting for a human-sized version of the outfit for herself — which she found the afternoon of the big day, on her lunch break.
McGee, along with 400 attendees and 35 participating dog owners who all believed they resembled their precious pooches, entered the competition, organized in honor of International Dog Day by craft beer makers Dogfish Head, purely for fun.
McGee admitted after the fact that she never expected to walk away with the grand prize. But it was a perfect match, according to the judges — the pair were crowned best in show.
“She’s going to get a whole T-bone when she gets home,” McGee told The Post, basking in the win and petting her “perfect meatball,” who sat panting on her lap.
McGee said she and her husband adopted Lisa, now five and a half years old, after she failed her training as a show dog.
And while the pair might not at first glance seem obviously alike — though McGee joked they did share the same compact body type — the judges seemed to pick up on the fact that it was more of an inner thing, she said.
“We’re both introverted, and we both love our alone time,” McGee, who wore her hair in pigtails for the big day as an homage to Lisa’s pointy ears, told The Post. “We’re highly suspicious of men we don’t know. She just likes to chill and be loved, and I identify with that.”
The pup-and-parent pairs were judged by a three-person panel that included Antwon Andre Patton (a.k.a. Big Boi of the hip-hop duo Outkast), New York “pup-fluencer” Jackie Hornung and her Instagram-starring Samoyed Lumi, and Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione.
As the two- and four-legged crowd mingled in a cozy courtyard inside the sprawling complex, Sean Bracy, a Brooklyn-based plumbing business owner, told The Post he was there because he’s been told by his wife and friends that he bears a strange likeness to his King Charles cavalier/poodle mix Venti — yes, as an homage to Starbucks.
“The shape of our eyes are very similar, along with our skin tones and sometimes playful attitude,” said Bracy, who dressed in his brown plumber’s gear to accentuate the likeness.
“People love to take pictures of [us] — they stop me in the street,” Christine Perea, a semi-retired flute player and dog walker from Brooklyn who has groomed her 12-year-old poodle Bunny’s long, brown locs to match her own since she was a puppy, added. “I’ve had people follow me into a building…I don’t do anything, it’s so easy.”
Others may not have shared a direct physical similarity with their dogs, but did their best to improve their chances.
“What we relate most on is that she’s a very empathetic, social dog,” Hanna Rohani Wilson, a Bensonhurst dog walker who rescued her Aussiedoodle named Shazee in May, explained to The Post of her pet, who, like her, came dressed in blue-and-orange, a salute to New York’s basketball heroes.
“When people are scared of her, she wants to go reassure them, which is something I do, too.”
“He dressed up this like this last year for Halloween, and I thought, I can match him,” said Lorraine Gates, a Carroll Gardens “dog nanny” and Guns N’ Roses fan — who dressed herself and her Chinese crested powder-puff Jo-Jo Bon Jovi, to look like famous frontman Axl Rose.
Later in the evening, the judges took to the stage, where only six duos were invited to participate in a final judging round. There, they were tasked with answering hard-hitting interview questions like “What is your pup’s most human-like trait?” and “Who runs the household, you or your dog?”
While the levity was briefly interrupted by two shouting young men, one leading the other across the stage by a belt used as a dog collar, the troublemaking pair were quickly escorted out, and the festivities continued without a hitch.
A raffle for a custom-made bike courtesy of Priority Bicycles and Xtracycles, both partners of Dogfish Head, was also held, with all proceeds going towards the nonprofit Badass Animal Rescue.
Ultimately, McGee took home the tail-wag-worthy first place prize — a stay at the brewery hotel in Lewes, Delaware, a $1,000 travel stipend, a $250 Dogfish Head gift card and matching dog and human trophies.
Park Slope resident Alanna Duncan and her shepherd mix Willow, who wore a costume that looked like she was wearing doggie crutches to match the ones her owner is currently using as she heals a torn ACL, came in second place.
Brooklynite Suki Kwon and her fluffy white Pomoranian mix Kumo (the Japanese word for “cloud”) came in third — with both runners-up taking home a mix of dog treats and swag.
And of course, Baha Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out” played at the end.
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