It's a right of passage that every dog dreads: being sent to the vet a happy, healthy dog and coming home with a big goofy cone around their head. Unfortunately, spaying and neutering your dog is important, and afterwards they need the cone to help keep them out of trouble. While volunteering at Chicago's One Tail At A Time animal shelter, Erin Einbender saw lots of dogs sporting the "cone of shame," as it's sometimes called.

She wanted to find a way to rebrand the cone as something positive, and luckily she had the skills to pull it off. Einbender graduated from Chicago's School of Art Institute, and she used her skills to create these colorful and bright "cones of fame."

The cones have 2 purposes: they help raise awareness about the importance of spaying an neutering, which keeps unwanted dogs out of the shelters, and it helps shelter dogs find Forever Homes.

Each of the dog models in Einbender's photos is a rescue dog, and all of her original models have since been adopted.

Click the next page to see more photos of these cones!

Einbender says the idea for her project came to her when she saw all the dogs wearing their cones at the animal shelter. "They just looked so sad," she said, "and I just had this idea to decorate them and bling them out." Then, she recognized that the fun project could actually do some good for shelter animals.

"I realized I could use photography and my knowledge of social media to help the dogs find forever homes," and so far she has. Every model that's been photographed wearing her cones has been adopted.

Now, Einbender is planning a second round of photos, with cones designed by other artists and designers.

The cones will be auctioned off to support One Tail At A Time. If you're in Chicago later this month, you can also attend an art show featuring the cones.

"I hope this project inspires people to spay/neuter their pet and reach out to their local rescues and shelters to help in some way, whether it's volunteering, fostering, adopting or donating," Einbender told People. "There are so many dogs out there that need forever homes. Every dog deserves a chance."

Share these adorable photos with someone who loves dogs!

[H/T: NBC News]