It's Princess Paris!: Meet the Telford dog with 25,000 Instagram followers

Thousands of fans follow the pooch’s fashion statements, as she models everything from tutus to sunglasses.

Owner, 18-year-old Sofie Braid, started dressing up Princess Paris in 2014 and opened the Instagram account.

It grew and grew and now even Paris Hilton follows the cheeky hound.

Whether she's dressing in a tutu, modelling a pair of sunglasses, modelling gold chains, being wheeled around in her pram or showing off her very own branded dressing gown, Princess Paris captures the heart of her followers.

Princess Paris may well be the star of the show it is Sofie who has put in all the hard work. And it's not just as simple as picking an outfit out of her very own little wardrobe.

It all started when Princess Paris entered the family in 2014.

"I was just looking for something to do really," says Sofie. "I just started taking pictures and opened the Instagram account."

Sofie has autism and lives with her mum Maxine Cross, sister Tara and step dad Steven.

Want too see more?

• If you want to keep track of what Princess Paris and Sofie are up to then see her Instagram account @princess_paris_the_chi.

While Princess Paris rules the roost at home, she's not the only pet in the family home. She joins Tootsie the dog, and three other cats Binx, Bully and Guinness.

"At the start Sofie would be on Instagram every day," says Maxine, 50. "She would be constantly updating the account with photos because that is the only way to get the followers. It took a lot of hard work, especially for those first six months."

Over the months Princess Paris's online profile started to rise. At first it was a few followers, then it was 1,000 and after a few months it was 10,000. Paris Hilton even follows the cheeky chihuahua, who looks rather similar to her own pet chi which is also called Paris.

"I copied one scene from one of Paris Hilton's music videos where she is surrounded by rose petals," said Sofie. "We started following Paris Hilton and she followed us back; she's commented and liked a few of our posts."

Princess Paris is even a hit within the dog community and has been asked to open up dogs shows such as ChihuahuaTown which is held in Milton Keynes and attracts hundreds of the miniature pooches from all round the country and has also appeared on the huge promotional posters for the event.

Sofie stages her pictures at home and takes them with an SLR camera, although when she's out and about she uses her phone.

"People will always follow animals, especially if they're interesting, and Paris is quite cute," says Maxine.

While Sofie puts thought into the outfits and does buy them, she also now gets sent an awful lot of things from companies who want Princess Paris to don their gear.

"We were getting messages saying 'would you mind advertising this?' and sending us stuff," says Maxine.

Princess Paris has featured on Rich Dogs Of Instagram account all dressed up in Chanel, although the family insist she is actually in no way a rich pooch.

"Paris could make money off Instagram, but we're in a smaller town, it's not like we're in London," says Sofie. "You will see those in the city getting more attention because of where they have pictures taken.

But despite this Princess Paris does sometimes get recognised in the street.

"I've been stopped in a shop before by someone who said 'I recognise that dog I've seen her on Instagram'," says Sofie. "Also a family friend recognised the dog before they recognised us."

But Princess Paris has also opened a few doors for the family too.

"We were in London once and wanted to get inside somewhere to eat and we saw Bung Bunga in Battersea, where Prince Harry sometimes eats," says Maxine.

"We looked at their Instagram and saw they didn't have many followers. I thought I'll be cheeky and ask if they'll let us in to eat with the dog if we give them a plug. They let us in and the chef even came out with a silver platter of food for Paris."

But being an Instagram star is not all good – and Sofie has been on the receiving end of some online abuse for dressing up Princess Paris. She has also been stalked and fake Princess Paris Instagram accounts have been set up.

"There can be some quite nasty people," says Maxine. "When we see it we just ignore them. But there are some weird people about."