A pack of local Siberian Huskies is getting high-fashion national modeling campaigns that would make Kate Moss jealous.

The Siberians, owned by licensed dog breeder Karen Stenlund of Woodland, most recently can be seen in two Ralph Lauren ads in this month’s Vanity Fair magazine, which has “Twilight” movie star Robert Pattison on the cover.

The ads were shot in the snow at Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge in May with two of Stenlund’s 16 dogs: Nike, 6, and his father, Rio, who turns 11 next month. Both dogs are American/Canadian Champions and “Best of Show” winners.

“They like people so much that they thought it was exciting,” said Stenlund, 41, who stood behind the photographer during the shoot, eating red licorice to keep the dogs’ attention.

Stenlund and her parents, Wayne and Mary Stenlund of Woodland, have been breeding and showing the furry working dogs together since 1976. The dogs got their modeling break in 1998, when a talent agent looking for show-quality dogs for a Eukanuba dog food ad began calling members of the Vancouver Kennel Club. The first person the agent reached wasn’t interested, but Karen Stenlund, who was next on the roster, was.

“I didn’t even realize there was money involved,” said Stenlund, a dog trainer at The Dog Zone in Longview and receptionist/vet tech at Timberland Pet Clinic in Woodland. “I just thought it was kind of fun.”

The agent, Paula Ratoza of Feathers & Fur Talent Agency in Portland, came to her house and selected two Siberians for a print ad and TV commercial at the Oregon Coast. Stenlund’s dogs were just supposed to be backup models, but the photographer “fell in love with them” and took extra shots of one named Lil.

The next year at the Rose City Classic dog show, there was a 20-foot-tall photo of Lil on a Eukanuba ad, Stenlund said. Eukanuba used her ads until about two years ago, she said. (Lil, who died last year at age 14, is the mother of Rio.)

In 1999, two of Stenlund’s Siberians were hired for a Purina Pro Plan ad. She and the dogs first flew to Burbank, Calif., to film in front of a blue screen, and then traveled to Whistler, Canada, to shoot in the snow.

Stenlund’s dogs also have been in print ads for Mervyn’s, Sears and the Hanna Andersson catalog, once featured on the front cover). In addition, they’ve been in a 2006 British TV documentary series called “Extinct” and the Last Chance Summer Dance fashion show on the Portland waterfront. Earlier this year, four of Stenlund’s Siberian puppies were in the Land’s End children’s catalog.

Dog modeling is not something one gets into for the money, said Stenlund, who is paid a flat fee negotiated by her agent. Most jobs pay just a few hundred dollars, plus gas money. The most lucrative job was for Pro Plan — the company paid for Stenlund’s first-class plane ticket and lodging, a $50 daily stipend and $3,000, she said.

Photo shoot days tend to be long with lots of waiting around. For the Ralph Lauren ad, Stenlund arrived at Timberline Lodge at 8 a.m. with 13 freshly bathed Siberians, and three dogs selected weren’t needed until late afternoon. But between the lavish tables of food and the stunning models from all over the world, there was plenty to keep Stenlund occupied. The male model lounging in the snow with the dogs in the Ralph Lauren ad “was just as nice as he is gorgeous,” she said.

For one scene, dogs Nike and Hannah, 2, were photographed with $1 million worth of diamond necklaces draped around their necks, she marveled. For another, the dogs spent four hours in their harnesses attached to a sled. (In the Vanity Fair ads, the harnesses have been Photoshopped out.)

One of the Ralph Lauren ads also is running in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar.

“I’ve been a breeder for 30 years, and I still can’t believe these pictures,” Wayne Stenlund said.