Ruffing it in high style

You’ve heard of doggie day care. But a place claiming to be a doggie five-star resort? Only in Hollywood.

To get a sense of the planning that went into LA Dogworks, start with the 2,500-square-foot indoor dog park. It’s maintained at 70 degrees and has a cleaning and drainage system that gets flushed every hour to keep odors away. Then add an all-organic doggie bakery; a retail store filled with designer collars and toys; a sleeping area where little dogs cuddle on fluffy bunks and watch flat-screen TV; a hydrotherapy tank for pooches recovering from surgery or suffering from hip problems; 24-hour video surveillance for overnight campers; and a spa that offers dog body wraps and massages, and you get what customer Carolyn London calls a Four Seasons of canine care.

“You don’t smell anything in there,” marvels London, the mother of supermodel Tyra Banks and owner of a 1-year-old red miniature poodle named Aya. “The staff asks a lot of questions about your dog’s personality and deal with it as an individual.”

Dogs even get sensory treats that only they can appreciate: Scent diffusers in the facility emit a calming pheromone similar to that of a lactating mommy dog.

The opening of LA Dogworks late last year is no coincidence: Americans are spending record amounts on their canine “children,” a trend owner Andrew Rosenthal wanted to tap into after his own experiences with his three Italian greyhounds. Rosenthal, a photographer, didn’t like leaving town for shoots.

Naturally, the facility isn’t cheap. Overnight stays start at roughly $70 a night; customers can pay an extra $25 or so to have their dogs picked up by the company’s “Fetchmobile.” Massages start at about $20.

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-- Leslie Gornstein

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LA Dogworks, 1014 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. (323) 461-5151; www.ladogworks.com