Basset wins perfume modelling contract

Picking up $A57,000 ($NZ69,000) for promoting a new perfume is not a bad day's work, especially if you are a bitch.

Britain's latest supermodel sensation might not have long legs and wear the latest designer fashions, but Shirley the grand basset knows a thing or two about strutting her stuff.

The three-year-old pooch has been chosen as the new "face" for Petite Amande, a new fragrance for dogs created by Mungo & Maud.

Shirley was paid £25,000 ($NZ69,000) to model the fragrance, which sells for £38 a bottle, in a series of billboard and video advertisements.

According to The Times newspaper Shirley beat 29 hopefuls at a final audition for the lucrative job in London recently and has been dubbed the Kate Moss of dog modelling.

One industry insider said Shirley was "one of the best-behaved bitches in the business".

- AAP