Tinsley Mortimer, 46, of the Real Housewives of New York has two adorable little poodles named Strawberry and Shortcake. She dresses them in little doggie versions of whatever she’s wearing, calls them her babies, and compared adopting them to giving birth. Tinsley rescued Strawberry and Shortcake from the dog meat trade in China in the summer of 2019. Those dogs have lived a charmed life since. Tinsley talked so much about her dogs in her “25 Things You Don’t Know About” piece for US Magazine. The thing that surprised me the most is that she feeds them shrimp cocktail three times a day! I thought shrimp should only be a treat for dogs, but these two get it for every meal. Here’s more of her 25 Things:
My rescue dogs Strawberry and Shortcake, who I adopted from China, are my life.
I’m a member of the Colonial Dames of America.
I sleep with eye makeup on every night, including my lashes that I created with Winky Lux called XXO Tinsley.
I can’t stand flipflops. When I see them I actually feel angry.
I don’t drive. My mom [Dale Mercer] or sister [Dabney Mercer] drive me everywhere, or else I take an Uber.
I only take baths — never showers!
I use Old Spice deodorant.
I feed Strawberry and Shortcake jumbo shrimp cocktail (with no sauce!) three times a day.
[From US Magazine, print edition, December 27, 2021]
The “Colonial Dames” nonsense made my spidey sense tingle so I googled her, since so many of these real housewives have been openly racist. I couldn’t find anything about her saying or doing anything problematic or I might not have covered this story. According to my friend Briana who watches RHONY, Tinsley is “pretty boring and safe as far as housewives go.” My friend April loves her! She wrote that Tinsley “had the older housewives in a major tizzy (especially Dorinda) because she’s a real socialite, living in hotels without a care in the world. Her choice in men (Scott) is questionable but hey everyone wants love.”
I also wanted to see if it’s safe to feed dogs shrimp three times a day! My mom has a miniature schnauzer and you have to be careful not to give them food with too much fat or cholesterol in it, but of course these are poodles. Shrimp are actually low in fat and have a lot of nutrients but they’re high in cholesterol. The American Kennel Club warns that too much shrimp in a dog’s diet can lead to cholesterol build up. Plus of course the shrimp have to be cooked and deveined with the tails removed. Dogs can also be allergic to shrimp. For now it seems like Strawberry and Shortcake are doing fine and it’s obvious they’re loved and completely spoiled! I really enjoyed looking through Tinsley’s Instagram and seeing photos of those sweet little dogs.
Hecate works with a dog rescue organization in Los Angeles called The Dove Project. You can learn more about their work on their website and Instagram.
photos via Instagram
She better throw some lipitor in their dish too
and some grains too. I learned the hard way that grain-free diets are bad for dogs, leads to heart disease 🙁
while there’s no reason (in general) to refrain from food formulations/treats that contain grain, the data hasn’t supported that lack of grain has any causal relationship to the cardiomyopathy that’s been reported in dogs. The same issue has been reported in dogs eating diets containing grain. From a statistical standpoint, the lower numbers of dogs on grain-free diets means that even a low number of reports/abnormal values could skew results in studies.
It’s more likely some of the non-traditional proteins (lentils/legumes – items for which there really wasn’t any research around implementing in a canine diet).
I gotta confess that I kind of like Tinsley. She and I are around the same age and though I am a black woman I feel a kinship in the love department with her. She picks the wrong men and just gets sucked back in at least once into these relationships. I’m the same way, though I’ve gotten better with this recently. I also still want to have children and my own little family. I however DO drive myself places (but have to rely on Lyft as well from time to time. )
I suffer from a bit of arrested development in some areas of my life like she does I guess. And I love that Dorina is jealous of her because Tinsley is in fact a rich socialite. I’ve only ever gotten into the RHONY and Dorina is one of the meanest women ever. Just nasty.
Awww I can’t help but like Tinsley. She’s definitely of an era/money class where you get women with learned helplessness, but anyone who adores a dog that much and is adored in return cant be a malicious person.
And Dorinda was atrocious to her for no apparent reason beyond the fact that she couldn’t handle Tinsley being happier than she was. Work on yourself girl, don’t take it out on someone just because she doesn’t want to hear “I told you so/what are you thinking” from people knowing she’s back with an ex.
Tinsley is completely helpless. She’s bounced from one man to another to take care of her. I cannot get behind a woman like this.
I don’t know what it is about Tinsley, but I like her, too. Matching outfits with the dogs, though? And whether that’s her hotel room or own apartment in NYC, I love it! And she’s definitely got shoe game.
I can’t with these people. They have more money than sense or class.
Old Spice deodorant, Tinsley? Really?
I watched RONY a long time ago when she was on it with the one that was married to a Kennedy who passed away and Tinsley did not how to do anything without a man. Whatever, It is her life. The dogs are adorable!!
No shade on loving animals.
Thanks for covering Tinsley CB, great picture choices!
I just love her, and her babies are adorable
Like many Elder Millennials, I was a starred Gawker commenter way back in the day (when that meant something) and I still remember when Tinsley was the darling of the social set trying to ice out/make fun of Olivia Palermo with help from an anonymous (until exposed) socialite blog. It’s just SO interesting how much the blog smeared Olivia and adored Tinsley and just witnessing their trajectory since then, both dabbling in reality TV (OP in the City but now a respectable fashion plate and designer, and Tinsley a Real Housewife), makes me want Hollywood to take notice and make A Tale of Two Socialites already.