As a child Koren Scicluna was petrified of dogs – she was once run over by a car when fleeing from a dog she had seen across the street.

Moses, a pure breed, was abandoned seven years ago and Ms Scicluna took him off the street. He was an unrecognisable ball of grubby fur.

“I took to calling him Moses because he was clearly abandoned,” she said. She started leaving food for him on her doorstep.

“After a week I just couldn’t possibly leave him out there anymore – he stole my heart,” she said.

After a good scrub and wash, old Moses – he was already about eight years old – was adopted by the Scicluna family. And overnight their lifestyle changed: “Before Moses, my husband and I would work and party non-stop. But I didn’t want to leave him behind, so we gave up on theatre and the cinema. If Moses couldn’t come with us, then we wouldn’t go,” she said.

A few months later, on a holiday in Italy she came across a pet shop selling dogs’ outfits and was hooked. “I bought half the shop for Moses,” she said.

In less than a year she had convinced her father to give her a tiny section in his appliances shop and she launched a pet-fashion corner, which gradually took over the whole shop.

There’s something for every dog and dog fan at her shop. Pretty, pink ballerina frocks for the dainty pooches; World Cup football kits for the more sporty types; and hoodies with peace signs for the hippier hounds.

For the more flamboyant ones, there’s even jewellery, to be attached to their diamond-studded collar; and accessories such as fancy hair clips and bands.

Every year, August 12 is a big day for the Scicluna family: it is the anniversary of the day Moses was welcomed into the household. And each year the family organises a big do, with some 50 invitees and their dogs gathering round a specially ordered cake.

The party food also caters for canine tastes: there is always popcorn, cookies, and even beer specially made for dogs, which Ms Scicluna also stocks at her shop.

Moses has so far been joined by Jimmy, another poodle homed from the Island Sanctuary that suffers from lung problems. Both dogs get along with her two-year-old son, Indri. “He loves them to bits,” she said of her son.

While Jimmy is happy to stay with Ms Scicluna’s parents, Moses always joins the family when they go abroad. They use a dog pushchair – which at first glance looks very much like the regular type for children. “I push Indri in his and my husband pushes Moses.”

From an abandoned stray, this little fashionably-attired dog has had his prayers answered in more ways than one: “He’s even been inside the Vatican,” his mistress quipped.