A Dog's Life Is Looking Better and Better

NEW YORK, March 21, 2005 — -- The W Hotel near Times Square offers a special room service menu, monogrammed beds, bath robes and a masseuse, and has a psychologist on call if the need arises.

That's not just for you. It's for your dog, if you bring one along.

"When you check into our welcome desks at any of the properties, we always let you know what languages we have by our talent here that are speaking human languages," said Ross Klein, senior vice president of the W chain, "and we added 'woof' and 'meow' to that as an official language about two years ago."

Collette Leonard checked in with Gabby, her teacup Yorkshire terrier. After they settled into their room, Gabby had steak sent up.

"I would say she's very pampered. What do you think?" laughed Leonard, a marketing executive. "I'm single and I travel a lot. I work a lot of hours and it just makes me feel that I'm not away from home as much as I really am."

Numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest that Gabby's first-class treatment is part of a growing phenomenon in America. In the last 10 years, the percentage of households with pets has remained relatively stable, but the amount of money people spend on their pets has doubled. Last year it was more than $34 billion. That is more than Americans spend on sporting goods, candy, jewelry, toys or shoes.

Breakfast at Sniffany's

At a Manhattan shop called Trixie + Peanut, people can buy dog boots, dog sweaters, dog necklaces and dog toys from "Chewnel No. 5" or "Sniffany & Co."

"We've had people in here that have spent over $1,000," said Mark Edwards, owner of Trixie + Peanut.

"It's people wanting to express themselves through their dogs' fashions, just as they do with their own fashions," said Edwards, "and the designers are mirroring the fashions that are out there for people."

Brooke Goldstein came shopping with her dog, Kayla. "I feel bad for her when I leave her during the day, so I like her to have a lot of toys," she said. "My parents don't really understand why my dog wears so many clothes."

Marketers think they understand. They say it has to do with the changing American family, the rising numbers both of hurried singles and empty-nesters. These are people with money to spend, but fewer loved ones on whom to lavish it.

"Dogs are the new children, as far as we're concerned," said John Ryan, who last year began publishing The New York Dog Magazine.

He says many of the magazine's readers are single women who have tired of the dating scene. "For a lot of people the illusion of the long-lasting marriage, the long-lasting relationship is pretty much dead after the second or third marriage."

Calm in a Scary World

Bob Vetere, chief executive officer of the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, said he thinks the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had an effect on his industry.

"As the world becomes a more scary place -- for want of a better word -- you're looking for something to comfort you, something to make you feel better," he said.

In years when the stock market went down, Vetere said, people's spending on their pets still rose.

That comfort factor is why Leonard says she does not feel as if she is spoiling Gabby.

"She's my only family that I live with full time, and she just gives me so much joy," she said, quietly stroking her dog's back. "To be able to come home on a business trip at the end of the day and have your dog waiting for you -- it's priceless."