Indulgent Owners Let Pets Put on the Dog

It’s come to this: Dogs can now have birthday cakes and biscotti concocted just for them at a specialty bakery. But it doesn’t end there. The delicacies also meet specifications that would delight a dietitian: no sugar, no salt and, please, carob instead of chocolate.

Three Dog Bakery, a canine-centered patisserie set to open this month in Corona del Mar, and later in Pasadena, West Hollywood and Santa Barbara, is just the latest purveyor in an expanding luxury pet-care market.

It joins the all-natural, allergen-free dog food delivered to the doorstep by an Anaheim outfit. And the holistic veterinarian in Corona who treats pets with aroma and color therapy.

You could call it extreme pet ownership. But the pampering of pets, once considered an activity of the lonely soul with money to burn, has gone mainstream, especially when it comes to dogs.

While dog ownership has increased only slightly, pet owners are lavishing rapidly increasing sums on their animals, encouraged by an exploding array of aggressively marketed goods.

Overall, spending on pets rose nearly 33% in two years, reaching $22.7 billion in 1996, the most recent year for which figures are available.

“The pet food industry has suddenly become one of the fastest growing areas of the food industry in the last five years,” said John M. McMillin, an analyst with Prudential Securities in New York. “Companies are making more money selling to pets these days than they are selling to people.”

The trends in dog spending reflect human fashions. If people are eating fat-free muffins, their dogs get sugar-free, low-sodium treats. If the owners increasingly buy food at organic markets and consult naturopaths, so must their pets eat natural foods and receive holistic treatments.

“As the public has become more health conscious . . . it has reflected itself down to their dogs, cats, birds, fish and reptiles, and everything else,” said Doug Poindexter, executive vice president for the World Wide Pet Supply Assn. in Arcadia.

The newest regional entry in the field is Three Dog Bakery, the first California licensee of a growing 8-year-old national chain that makes up freshly baked biscuits and personalized birthday cakes for dogs, along with such preciously named products as “Snickerpoodles” and “Scotty Biscotti.”

The puppy puns don’t end there.

“We’re just literally salivating at the bit to get open out there,” said co-founder Daniel Dye, who launched the Kansas City-based business eight years ago with his partner Mark Beckloff.

The two set out on an aggressive marketing strategy that included taping their own program for the Food Network and appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s show.

Way out on the edge? Actually, Three Dog, which also sells dry dog food, is just the grandfather of pet bakeries. Omaha, Neb.-based Bone Appetit Bakery opened two years ago and plans to use franchisees to expand into California soon, selling Down Boy Bagels, Cinnamon Rollovers and Bark Assure breath mints. And in Ojai, Franimals is already dishing out canine fortune cookies and bagels.

In Anaheim, Canine Caviar Inc. delivers “gourmet” pet food to homes.

Jeff Baker, who founded the company two years ago, projects sales of $485,000 this year. Next year, franchising agreements should boost revenue to $3 million, he said.

Baker, 29, said a Jakarta, Indonesia, businessman has agreed to order 32,000 pounds of the product monthly.

The company now has franchises operating throughout Southern California and is negotiating with potential franchisers in other states and nations.

“We have 27 people waiting, and that stretches anywhere from Seattle to Florida,” Baker said.

The issue isn’t always luxury. A 20-pound bag of Canine Caviar chicken and rice costs $14, less than a bag of, say, Iams premium dog food, which sells at the Irvine Petco for $22.99.

The company touts its product as an “all-natural, allergen-free pet food that promotes a longer and healthier life for your pet.”

The trend toward natural canine health extends into the veterinary profession.

Huntington Beach veterinarian Don Lundholm now uses homeopathy, acupuncture and herbal therapy.

“We used to call them quacks and weirdos,” he said of people who started offering such procedures years ago. “It’s like many things, you pooh-pooh what you don’t know.”

Thomas Van Cise, another holistic veterinarian in Norco, takes alternative treatment a step farther, treating his patients with aromatherapy and color therapy. He uses colored lights, clothing or mats to soothe dogs as well as to treat kidney problems and prompt tissue repair after surgery, he said.

Dogs now are treated to options that once were limited to children--Halloween costumes, birthday parties and day care--as well as those traditionally enjoyed by adults.

At Hollywood Hounds in Los Angeles, pedicures are basic. Dreary-haired dogs also can have their locks lightened. Before they leave, pet owners pick up a “prom dress” or tuxedo for their dog.

“The fun thing about dogs is people just love to anthropomorphize them,” said Karen Winkler, a pet product designer with the City Dog Designed Co. in Allentown, Pa. “People are just craving anything new that will separate them from the masses.”

And when the dog starts to stress out from the excitement, losing hair or itching for no apparent reason, it can be seen by canine psychologists.

In a sense, Long Beach (people) psychologist Jana Martin said, it’s all an investment in the owners’ emotional well-being.

“A lot of people are lonely,” Martin said. “You can talk and talk and talk to a pet. And they never tell you to be quiet.”

Times librarian Sheila Kern contributed to this report.

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Feting Fido

Three Dog Bakery will be the latest sign that pampering pets is no longer just for eccentrics with too much disposable income.

Dog Pointers

* Americans spend more than $20 billion a year on dog products, foods and services

* There are nearly 60 million pet dogs in the U.S.

* Almost all dog owners buy their pets 1 to 5 packages of treats per month

* Owners who spend more than $300 per year on their dogs tend to be younger, earn higher incomes, be married and have no children

* Two-thirds of dog owners give their pets gifts; more than half give Christmas gifts and one-fourth give birthday presents

Sources: Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, American Pet Products Manufacturers Assn.