Michael DeFontes suspected his dog Bette was a bit of a diva, but a pin-up girl?

The four-year-old papillon is the face of January in a calendar that’s likely travelling Canada’s dog-show circuit.

According to Mr DeFontes, the wheels were set in motion 18 months ago.

“That was when she got her Canadian championship from the Canadian Kennel Club,” the real estate agent said. “One day, a person arrived at my friend’s house and said, ‘We’ve seen Bette in the show- ring, can we take some photos of her?’ I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Mark Raycroft, who regularly shoots for animal calendars and books, took the pictures then and there on the front steps.

Bette was happy to pose.

“[She] is very nonchalant about cameras,” said Mr DeFontes. “It’s like going in the ring, she is just a professional and knows her job.”

Mr DeFontes thought little of the shoot until he and his wife Maureen Burke visited her mother in Montreal last December.

“The photographer tracked us down through my friend,” he said. “When we got there, sitting under the Christmas tree was a package from him.”

Inside was the 2017 Just Papillons calendar.

“I opened it up and found my darling Bette as January’s girl,” he said. “I was over the moon.”

The DeFontes purchased her from Denzel Papillons in Maryland four years ago as a puppy, and regularly show her as Denzel Divine Madness.

She is one of the seven dogs they own. In addition to Bette, two papillons, two keeshonds, one poodle and one golden retriever live in the family home. According to Mr DeFontes, living with them isn’t at all chaotic.

“The dogs have their own room and their own garden,” he said. “We have someone who comes in and walks them twice a day and I’m often home in the afternoons.”

Bette is the alpha in the pack. She weighs just over 5lbs and rules the roost.

“She is quite delicate,” Mr DeFontes said.

“Papillons in Europe tend to be bigger than her. She is in charge of the house, and bosses the other dogs around. I call her my princess. She goes to bed with me at night until Maureen comes to bed. Then Bette gets a real attitude and turns into a pitbull. She does not want to be taken out of the bed and put in her kennel.”

Mr DeFontes and his late wife, Anne Marie DeFontes, showed toy poodles for 25 years. Dr Burke, a radiologist, showed golden retrievers.

They married eight years ago.

“I was very lucky I found another person who has a love for dogs like I do,” said Mr DeFontes. “We met through the dogs. Maureen and I have continued along the vein of working with dogs and having good quality dogs.”

Their papillon Omi is five points from gaining his Bermuda championship in the showring. Bette’s brother, Hogan, participates in agility.

Mr DeFontes finds showing papillons easier than toy poodles.

“What I really like about them is the ability to have them groomed in 25 minutes,” he said. “Toy poodles take you three hours.

“Papillons are as smart as poodles. Some of them can be a little more boisterous, but they’re great with children.”