For the past two months, Fendi and Elliott have been traversing the country via tour bus along with Ciara and her dog Love. Elliott was originally worried that Fendi wouldn’t adapt to her new roaming environment. “She’s spent a lot of her years in the house,” she says. But it was an unnecessary worry. “She’s made for the road,” Elliott says proudly. (With the exception of Denver: “The altitude,” her owner says, shrugging.)
Fendi’s ability to thrive on tour has helped her owner thrive too. “I feel like her being here has kept me relaxed—because she’s truly my best friend,” Elliott says. “She’ll play with other people for a second and then she’s looking to see where I’m at.” Even trying to bribe Fendi with a treat will prove unsuccessful—Elliott tells Vogue she doesn’t really like them. (She does, however, love Cesar dog food cups and chicken.)
Fendi’s palate isn’t the only human-like trait about her. Eliott says her barks resemble the phonetics of the English language: “It sounds like she’s talking when she’s in her stroller and trying to get down, or she wants attention.” Fendi also doesn’t play with toys. (“She’s too grand for that,” Elliott explains.) But the two most anthropomorphic things about Fendi? Her love of Elliott’s music, especially the song “Lose Control”— “she always seemed to jump down off of the chair when that’s on,” she says—and her energy in front of the camera. Whip one out, and Fendi somehow immediately knows to strike a pose. “She’s a star,” says Elliott.
To end with another saying—it takes one to know one.
Below, Missy Elliott and Fendi answer Vogue’s Dogue questionnaire.