Sabrina Carpenter’s dogs, Goodwin and Louie, are a man’s best friend

Sabrina Carpenter was not present when her dogs, 14-year-old Goodwin and 1-year-old Louie, transformed her family’s home into the set of their very own Dogue cover shoot. But even without the pop star on the premises to provide colour commentary, it gave her family a whole new perspective on just how exhausting it is to be famous.

“My parents were like, ‘Whoa, we understand this is actually hard work for you,’” Carpenter recounts with a laugh over the phone. “They were like, ‘This was a really long day for the dogs. I don’t know how you do it!’”

Not only did Carpenter’s parents witness a cover shoot, they were active participants—namely her mother, Elizabeth, who commissioned custom Dogue kerchiefs for the occasion. Lo and behold: Goodwin and Louie, doing their best Themla & Louise in a white toy Maybach (a nod to Carpenter’s “Manchild” music video). She also helped stylist Lindsey Hartman dress the dogs in starchy Elizabethan collars and tiaras, and, later, the platinum blonde Sabrina-esque wigs they wore to lounge on a twin bed, surrounded by a sea of American Girl dolls. Are they relics of Carpenter’s childhood? “Yeah, unfortunately,” she groans.

Carpenter grew up alongside Goodwin, who is a mixture of Maltese, Lhasa apso, Yorkshire terrier, and long-haired Chihuahua. “They call them Angel Doll pups,” she says. “I mean, they’re literally just mutts, but he is a really special mutt.”

Goodwin joined the family just as a 13-year-old Carpenter—an in-demand child actor, as fans of Girl Meets World know well—booked a Fox pilot about three estranged siblings called The Goodwin Games. The show only lasted for seven episodes, but Goodwin’s name stuck. “You know what?” Carpenter says. “Whatever. I still love the name, and it’ll be a part of my history forever.”

Louie, a one-year-old Cavapoo with a coat of golden brown curls and a white stripe down his belly, is new to the Carpenter crew. But he is already well-acquainted with his owner’s superstar lifestyle. Both dogs have joined her on her Short n’ Sweet tour—though they are kept confined. “They wait in my dressing room during the show, so they’ve actually never gotten to see me perform live,” she says, “which sucks for them because I think they’d like it.”