Echo, a two-year-old Harlequin Dane, has been turning heads everywhere she goes after her owner dyed her coat purple, blue, pink and turquoise.

Sierra Schoon, a 22-year-old woman from Grand Junction in Colorado, has been coloring her psychiatric service dog, Echo, using pet-safe dye, ever since the dog was about six-months old. The young dog groomer said that she uses vegetable-based Arctic Fox hair dye, and that Echo loves to just sit there and be pampered for three or four hours, while she applies the dye. Apparently, the dog also loves the attention she gets when they go out for walks, as people tend to get very confused by her unusual look.

Photo: Sierra Schoon/Instagram

“It became a joke that we tell people when they’re like, ‘Oh, is that dog naturally colored this way?’ and we say ‘Yeah, she’s a Galaxy Dane’,” Schoon said. “You kind of stand there for a minute, look at their reaction and let them stew and then finally tell them, ‘No, she’s dyed that way’.”

“People have actually been convinced – they’ve said that they’ve ‘never seen a dog that’s bred that color’ or asked if it’s some ‘sort of selective breeding now’ – some of the weirdest things,” the Colorado-based dog groomer added. “I never thought that anybody would ever think that a dog would naturally be pink or blue – let alone pink, blue, purple and turquoise.”

Although Sierra swears that Echo enjoys both the dyeing process and the attention she gets from people, and that the dye is perfectly safe for her skin and general health, photos of the eclectic-looking Great Dane have been getting a lot of critical comments online.

People said that they felt sorry for the poor animal, some accused Echo’s owner of using her as a fashion accessory, and a few even went as far as alleging animal cruelty.

“This is absolutely disgusting,” one person wrote. “And the dog is malnourished and underweight. The owner of this dog should never be allowed to have animals ever again. Disgusting.”

“Poor dog being used as a fashion accessory for attention seeking purposes,” someone else commented.

But despite the general criticism, Sierra Schoon insists that the dyeing has actually helped Echo get over her shyness. Because of her size – she weighs 130lbs and stands about 32 inches at the shoulder – most people preferred to keep their distance, and this always made her very nervous, because the Great Dane is extremely friendly. The eye-catching dye makes people more comfortable around Echo, and Sierra said that she noticed a positive change in her personality as well.