September 25, 2006--Club Bow-Wow
I came in in the middle of the conversation. A very stressed-out friend was talking about a place he had heard about. It sounded like a spa where there was hiking, swimming, listening to music, watching TV, gourmet meals (he mentioned they were famous for their filet mignon), massages, pedicures, and, if you wanted it, they even piped into the suites every evening bedtime stories read by one of the staff members. And, I almost forgot, for an extra daily charge, someone from the staff would sleep in the room with you.
I was glad to hear that he was thinking about some well-deserved down time—he had been working hard and hadn’t had a real vacation in more than a year. But when I told him that the place he was describing sounded ideal and asked when he might be planning to go, he laughed and said he wasn’t talking about a spa for himself but rather for his dog!
He then showed me the article linked below from the Business section of the Sunday NY Times.
There I not only learned about the Top Dog Country Club but also about Club Bow-Wow and how Americans now spend $38.4 billion per year on their pets.
Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and cats and thus I shouldn’t have been so surprised about all of this, including how much is paid for pet food, doggy toys, and now canine country clubs.
As an owner of a coop apartment in new York City I know that the most contentious issues at our annual meetings involve which elevators dogs can use in our “pet-friendly” building, why is it that dog owners have their pooches pee in the tree pits right outside the building’s entrance rather than in the gutter or down the street, and why do our bylaws allow residents who live in 400 square-foot studio apartments to have three huge hunting dogs—shouldn't there be a limit on the number of pets permitted per shareholder or a weight allowance: 12 Chihuahuas, for example, equal one Labrador Retriever?
Within minutes, pet owners and those without pets are literally screaming at each other and fighting like, well, cats and dogs.
I was glad to hear that he was thinking about some well-deserved down time—he had been working hard and hadn’t had a real vacation in more than a year. But when I told him that the place he was describing sounded ideal and asked when he might be planning to go, he laughed and said he wasn’t talking about a spa for himself but rather for his dog!
He then showed me the article linked below from the Business section of the Sunday NY Times.
There I not only learned about the Top Dog Country Club but also about Club Bow-Wow and how Americans now spend $38.4 billion per year on their pets.
Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and cats and thus I shouldn’t have been so surprised about all of this, including how much is paid for pet food, doggy toys, and now canine country clubs.
As an owner of a coop apartment in new York City I know that the most contentious issues at our annual meetings involve which elevators dogs can use in our “pet-friendly” building, why is it that dog owners have their pooches pee in the tree pits right outside the building’s entrance rather than in the gutter or down the street, and why do our bylaws allow residents who live in 400 square-foot studio apartments to have three huge hunting dogs—shouldn't there be a limit on the number of pets permitted per shareholder or a weight allowance: 12 Chihuahuas, for example, equal one Labrador Retriever?
Within minutes, pet owners and those without pets are literally screaming at each other and fighting like, well, cats and dogs.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
10:50 AM
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