Pet influencers are hotter than ever. But how do dogs do taxes?

A dog-tired husky with bright pink ears rests on the marble hotel floor, napping before his next meet-and-greet. Around him, the atrium echoes with the sounds of Louboutins click-clacking and businessmen chattering over overpriced cocktails. The stone resting spot isn’t as comfortable as the luxury pet bed he’s accustomed to, but the pup’s plush Louis Vuitton doggie vest cushions him as he recovers from the packed routine of an elite dog influencer.
With over 7.5 million followers on TikTok, Swaggy Wolfdog is a full-blown celebrity – he (or at least his team) is used to getting approached by strangers, who might ask for a selfie. But as I approached the stylish pup and his handler, something possessed me. All I wanted to know was how an influencer dog – or its owner – files taxes. So, I asked.
It’s a reasonable question. For a human influencer, making content and building an audience is only half the battle. To make a sustainable living, creators need to know how to run their own businesses, reckoning with questions about whether to get an EIN number, when to register an LLC, how to budget with a variable monthly income and how to file taxes. How much more complicated does the paperwork become when the breadwinner is moreso a bone winner?
“The dog has his own LLC, and everything that the dog does, we write it off. From dog food to sometimes when we go out of town, he has his doggie hotel, and now, he has clothing,” said Aaron Phillips, a record producer who works with Swaggy Wolfdog’s owner, a musician named Swagrman. “All of his dog food, all of his friends’ dog food… and human food, because he likes chicken.”


@swagrman
Should we get swaggy his own star on Hollywood blvd!? @theblondejon ( Follow Swaggy On Insta )