Follow along with Lisa as she demonstrates the step-by-step process of bringing a My Pet Replica to life!
First Lisa pours the molds. My Pet Replica has different rubber molds for different shapes and sizes of dogs and cats. The foam takes about an hour to set, after which Lisa will end up with the form of a dog!
These forms are kept in stock until needed. Lisa has to decide which form fits best. For this dog, she went with the “yorkie” form.
First, this poodle puppy is going to get his fur put on. Lisa pokes the wool into the form with a special felting needle and trims the excess.
Before the face gets covered, Lisa has to decide where the eyes will go, and what color they need to be.
Lisa also chooses between different ear shapes to find the closest match. These can get trimmed down later if needed. The eyelids will also get trimmed back later, but for now they need to cover and protect the eyes.
Moving on to a different pup to show you the washing stage! The pup needs to get completely soaked in hot water. Then the pup is put in a bag to protect it and goes for a tumble in the dryer. The combination of the hot water and the warm dryer will make the base layer of wool bind together.
Now moving on to another pup to show you the detailing stage! This pitbull needs to get all her unique features put on. First, Lisa opens her eyes and adds the right color of nose.
Lisa needs to trim this one’s ears a little bit. Then she sprays the ears with starch so they can be folded into the perfect shape, and she pins them down to dry.
Lisa details the mouth and muzzle with a needle and colored pencil, and gives this pup her unique pink eyelids.
Now it’s time to give her a “skeleton”… with string! Lisa sews the string through her form and makes tweaks such as adding pronounced cheekbones, making a flatter top to the head, and pulling the head back so she has more upright posture. She also secures the ears.
And there you have the basic rundown of pup detailing! Lisa will keep making subtle tweaks to this pup until it's ready for a new home.