A manicure and new coat to put your pet in fashion (From Worcester News)

A manicure and new coat to put your pet in fashion

8:51am Thursday 6th March 2008 in Features By David Paine, @davidpaineWN #worcsnews

A NICE warm bath, a haircut, and a manicure followed by a shopping trip for a nice new coat - it sounds like an ideal day out for many women in Worcestershire, but these services are not just being used by humans, people are pampering their pets with them.

Val Richings, of Spring Lane, Malvern, pampers her two bichon frises Toby, aged eight, and Poppy, aged six.

"I bath them, I brush them, I comb them and go and buy them toys all of the time," she said. "I take them to be groomed professionally every four or five weeks and they come up looking lovely."

Mrs Richings, who also used to own a labrador, said she spends about £50 having both dogs groomed every month. She said she also buys them presents.

"I buy them little fluffy toys," she said. "They have cats and dogs and all sorts. They have got two big boxes, one each, and they have everything in them. They are my babies."

Mrs Richings said she also buys them special collars and coats.

"Poppy has got a rainbow-coloured collar and Toby has got a little red coat and he's got his own collar - it's blue for a boy," she said. "They also have their own baskets. Poppy's is pink and Toby's is a red, and they know which one to use. I don't go out buying all of these clothes like jogging suits. They have winter coats though, but they don't go out walking much because we have a big garden which they can run around in."

Harry Hoey, co-owner of Bow Wow Dog Boutique And Grooming Salon in Friar Street, Worcester, said the pet pampering industry is just taking off in the UK.

"People just love their pets," he said. "They like to shower affection on them. There's research that says people aren't having children and more are staying single so pets become a replacement for children and they like to buy things for them."

Jane Taylor, owner of professional dog grooming business K9 Clips in Gregory's Mill Street, Worcester, said: "I think people in recent years will spend more money on their pets, whereas before a dog was just a dog.

"There just seems to be more money available for all sorts of things and people take pleasure in their pets and they like having them groomed. They want them clean and smelling nice, especially if they are staying in the house."

Many commentators have pointed towards celebrities such as Paris Hilton as the catalyst behind the recent rise in pet pampering, but Mr Hoey said he has read books that dates the trend back all the way to 16th century.

"At that time dogs were dressed in jewel encrusted collars," he said.

While the industry waned in the following few hundred years, Mr Hoey said there was a revival in Paris, France, at the turn of the 1900s before people in America, Japan, and more recently China, made it a global business.

Geraldine Haynes, of RSPCA Worcester and mid-Worcestershire branch, said: "We feel that fancy dog collars are perhaps a bit of fun and OK, but as far as anything else is concerned we feel that it de-moralises the animal. Animals need to be treated with respect - they are not objects to be dressed up."

Mrs Haynes said people should be wary about putting collars on pets too tight, especially cats. She also said: "We would also add that little toy dogs such as the type hauled about by Paris Hilton and referred to as handbag dogs to be dressed up as a fashion accessory are highly intelligent dogs who learn quickly, and should be afforded the same respect one would give a German Shepherd dog - few people would consider painting the nails of such a dog.

Mrs Taylor, who has more than 30 years' experience in grooming dogs, said that while she was not an advocate of dressing pet pooches up, she did not think it is a problem.

"We get a couple of dogs come in with jumpers and coats on and it's something I don't push personally but I've no objections to it," she said. "But I think with the grooming side of things there is a health side to it. It's surprising what we find underneath their coats.

"We find all kinds of lumps and bumps which would be missed if they weren't being done. Some of them can be really serious but if you catch them early enough they can be treated."

Mrs Richings agreed and said having her bichon frises groomed was essential.

"They have to be groomed, they have to be cut," she said. "If we didn't their fur would be like dreadlocks. I do like to see them looking nice but they have to be cut. I don't know what they would look like if they weren't because they don't moult these dogs. They don't mind being groomed at all."