Inside the booming pet industry

Animal communicator Faye Rogers with some of her four-legged charges at her animal sanctuary in Christchurch. Photo / Joe Johnson

Paul Little discovers who the leaders of the booming pet industry pack truly are.

People don't care how much they spend on babies or animals, a wise accountant once said. That might explain why, at Urban Dogs daycare centre in Albany, pets get swimming certificates; at Animates, pet parents can buy advent calendars for their dogs; and at Grange Spa in Tauranga, furry clients can be dyed to match bridesmaids' dresses.

With a quarter of New Zealand households now home to just one human occupant, and with many couples choosing to remain childless for economic or personal reasons, the domestic companion animal is increasingly the beneficiary of disposable income that would previously have gone to small humans.

From the kennel to the grave, the world of pet supplies and services has boomed in the past few years and nearly everyone involved in the industry agrees it's because animals are filling the place formerly occupied by children in many people's lives.

Henderson vet Brett Christian (himself owner of a british blue cat and german short-haired pointer) runs a practice focused on natural remedies and prevention. His track record includes embryo transfers with endangered species in Africa and work with the lions at Zion Wildlife Gardens, but he'll also give you something for Tiddles' fleas when you need it.

So he's in a good position to describe the big picture about big spending on pets and reels off a list of developments from the past few years: "Specialist surgeons keeping animals alive longer, health insurance for pets so people don't hesitate to take them to the vet; physios and chiropractors; doggy daycare centres; more acupuncture and homeo-pathy." Even Christian's own dog attends a doggy daycare.

At Urban Dogs daycare centre in Albany, the clients enjoy a vast array of services while their owners are at work, including the Relaxing Seniors Area, or RSA.

"We have extra couches, a TV and now the movie theatre," says founder Leanne Coste (owner of a mastiff labrador cross and belgian shepherd ridgeback cross). "It calms them down if they want to relax, as long as we don't put on things with lots of dogs barking, or cats."

There's a demand for the sort of service she provides, says Coste, because, "People are not having kids; they are having dogs instead." So, for instance, they want the feeling of belonging to a school, which is why the pupils at Urban Dogs have star charts and the centre has prizegiving evenings where pets get swimming certificates at beginner, intermediate or advanced level.

These initiatives, says Coste, are really for the owners. "We need to keep them happy, too." She goes to great lengths to find out what her customers want and provide it. "We do market research and have an exclusive client page on Facebook as well as our other page, so we will test ideas like client evenings and dog walks. Today we're starting a one-hour course called Feet and Paws. It's a fun training course with obstacles and we have 19 booked in on the first night."

There's also a "doggy school bus" that collects animals from home and takes them on outings.

An animal attending Urban Dogs has to play well with others. For dogs that don't, or have other problems, there's Cats & Canines, where Lynne O'Malley (owner of a flat-coated retriever, a staffordshire cross and a cat) provides "behavioural modification for cats and dogs with a holistic and positive approach", mainly by email, phone and Skype.

"It's for a whole range of problems," says Whangarei-based O'Malley. "For cats it can be anything from toileting to fighting or being timid." Her business is now more focused on cats.

"I realised there was not much on offer to help people with cat problems. Cats are easier to [look after] without an actual visit." Anyone who owns both knows dogs are models of common sense and co-operation, whereas cats are just weird.

"Cats are an unknown to most people," says O'Malley. "How can you change a cat's behaviour? You can train them, but most cats have a problem behaviour because of stress or something in the environment they're reacting to." She works out what's stressing the cat and puts it on a de-stress programme. Once they're feeling calm and secure, then it's easier to turn them around."

The situations she's dealing with can get torrid at the human end. "Some people put up with an awful lot for a long time or haven't known someone could help them. I get a lot of people who say they are at the end of their tether, and if I can't fix it the cat has to go, or perhaps their husband is saying the cat has to go. They are highly emotional and there's a lot of pressure on me to fix it."

Leanne Coste of Urban Dogs Doggy Daycare says childless dog owners want the feeling of their charges being at school, so she operates a star-chart system for behaviour and holds prizegivings. Photo / Dean Purcell

As well as standard behaviour modification techniques, O'Malley includes Bach flower treatment in her repertoire of remedies.

"They're like rescue remedy," she says. "They're based on flower essences and they can work well on people and also on animals. If people want to try them I make up remedies or mixes." Bach solutions include gorse for hopelessness, holly for malice and wild oat for lack of direction.

If you're seeking a more direct line into your pet's psyche, Faye Rogers (owner of dogs, donkey, sheep, llamas, and more) of Christchurch might be the pet communicator for you.

"I connect with the animal and they share through telepathic impressions how they're feeling about things relating to their everyday life or things they've gone though," says Rogers.

There have been many highlights in her work but one lifesaving incident stands out: "A cat had cancer of the nose and the vet had advised having it put down within a week. The owner asked me how the cat felt and the cat had some suggestions for extending its life. It said, 'Get me a healing clay and mix it up.' I'd never heard of healing clay, but I sent it through to the caregiver and she said she'd never thought to do that with the cat but said she worked with healing clay for a living. And it extended the cat's life for quite a long time."

Clients concerned their pets might have indiscreet mouths need not worry. "They won't bring out the family's dirty washing. They're totally loyal to the family but if they feel something is not right they will share that." Most recently Rogers has been writing a book with her dog.

"It relates to different animal species and involves messages about why we have different animals here and what's happening to their environment. It's a very big book, called Footsteps, that I recorded from him maybe seven to nine years ago. It starts with bears and goes from there."

Photo / Dean Purcell

For less literary dogs, there's now a sort of Outward Bound exercise option called Woofpack, run by Alexa Stubbington (mum to two siberian huskies).

"We specialise in group canine adventures within the Waitakere region," says Stubbington. "We ensure dogs are stimulated physically and mentally and encourage them to interact with one another. We also offer one-on-one walks, day visits and pet in-house minding.

Dogs on an adventure excursion are taken on free-ranging walks on beaches or in the bush in groups of four to six. Some owners prefer this au naturel alternative to doggy daycare centres, where Stubbington started out.

"I gained knowledge of canine behaviour and how they worked in packs. As the years went on I felt the dogs thrived better in a natural environment rather than in a building and I came across the dog-walking industry."

Most dog walkers take dogs on leashes around suburban streets or parks. "We offer a different experience," says Stubbington "Walking rarely even comes into the equation." Six sounds like a lot of dogs to keep track of in the great outdoors.

"It's amazing to watch. When there is a pack they stick with the pack, because that's where the fun is. But I'm getting tracking devices so there's peace of mind for the owners. People will know where their dog is."

Some dogs - and their owners - just aren't into a lot of exercise. They'd rather stay at home curled up with a good toy, dressing up in their sunfrocks and enjoying the best food and whine.

Tanya Houghton from Animates with dogs Bella Davies and Oakley Vlain. Photo / Dean Purcell

For them, there is Animates, the pet store chain currently in the process of acquiring veterinary clinics, which will mean it will provide the gamut of services from selling you your puppy in the beginning to putting it down at the end.

There are 32 stores and more planned and within those stores the company now aims to provide grooming and "what we call DIY dogwash services", according to chief operating officer Tanya Houghton (owner of a SPCA rescue cat and an irish terrier).

Animates' customers don't need any convincing - they want to spend on their pets.

"They look to us to provide an ever-enhanced range of products," says Houghton. Christmas is a busy time. "We have had to enhance and grow that range every year with a combination of toys, treats, clothing and costumes. Seasonal clothing is going gangbusters. My cat was a pumpkin for Halloween and has a Mother Claus outfit. The days of 'chuck a coat on a dog' are gone. We have Driza-Bone and Swanndri. Puffer jackets are incredible in winter." Animates had an in-store Santa for pets to visit until just a few years ago.

"This year we've got advent calendars and 100 per cent of profits go to the SPCA and Mobility Dogs. They contain dog chocolate drops. When I got mine at home, I tried putting it on the mantelpiece but the dog got too excited and I had to put it away."

Christmas is a time of year when people want their pets to look their best, but there are many other occasions that call for specialised titivating such as can be found at Tauranga's Showdogs, where Brazilian-born Tatiana Manion (miniature schnauzer and a labrador) offers creative grooming. So this is the place to come if you've ever wondered what your dog would look like with a brazilian.

With their hair done for a special occasion are Wuppy, a Bichon/Poodle cross (with mohawk) and Lesley, a poodle. Photo / Showdogs

Creative grooming means the likes of topiary clipping, dyeing and stencilling patterns on pets, and it's going off. "In Brazil it's always been a big thing," says Manion. "People sometimes say it's cruel but it's not. The dogs love to get the dyeing and creative grooming because they get lots of attention when they walk in the street. Then we do the stylish clip and one with pig tails or one ear each and even temporary tattoos - we draw on the dogs with paint, then do the designs in 3D with scissors." Then there's dog and human matching for the big day. "If a bridesmaid's dress is pink, they get the tail or ears pink, or they get a proper tie or just one part of the body done to match with the groomsmen." Manion definitely thinks her clients see their pets as four-legged children.

"They want to give the dogs everything. We have dogs who come every week for a bath. Friday is a crazy day. People want their pets clean for the weekend so they can cuddle a clean dog." But she also thinks pets serve a useful purpose in families that have human children, too: "A dog gets the family together, especially in the world today with too much internet and digital, so they get a pet in the house, brothers and sisters and parents get together and can go for a walk and have some time away from the internet." Although it's popular in her home country, Manion doesn't do pet hair straightening. "In Brazil, if you have a maltese they go with a proper straightener, but I don't think people will be into that here." But they are into pet portraiture.

"Over Christmas it's most popular. People get their dog groomed, then a photo and it's made into the Christmas card for the family."

You might think Botox to smooth Spot's frown lines is the next step in the march of the pampered pooches, but think again. According to the New Zealand Veterinary Association, "Performance of procedures for cosmetic reasons is unacceptable and is considered unethical under the Code of Professional Conduct issued by the Veterinary Council of New Zealand in 2011." However, medical surgery has made many advances in recent years. The Veterinary Specialist Group has been in operation since 2000. At that time, says co-founder and surgeon Alex Walker (who owns an alley cat and a labradoodle) the market had "grown to the point where we could survive on specialty work. Now we have three surgeons, two radiologists and two interns."

The career path is just like that for human specialists, says Walker. "When you come out of vet school you've been taught pigs, cows, sheep, dogs, cats, exotics. You can spey a dog or cat but you're not a surgeon. The work we do now is neurosurgery, oncology surgery, thoracic surgery."

Advances in animal medicine parallel those in human medicine. "When I did my residency, cancer in animals was a 'test and slaughter'-type of thing," says Walker. "Got cancer? Bad luck. Now with advanced imaging and pathology services we can treat cancer very effectively and give animals not just extended but good-quality life." But the philosophy is not operate or bust. Walker is clear that when informing owners they take the animal's best interests into account before proceeding with any surgery.

"I have conversations with people all the time where they want very radical surgery but to my mind the patient is not going to have a good outcome. On the other hand, people come who don't know anything about what can be done and we can inform that they can have good quality of life." If your animal is your child, after all, you want it to have the best medical care available.

"Studies show the attachment people have with animals is the same as you have with a child," says Walker. "But an animal is always an infant. Kids grow up and your attachment to a child changes, but a dog or cat is always dependent and stays like that its whole life."

Because not every dog can be saved, post-mortem services for pets are also widely available. There are reports of animals being quietly euthanased when their owner dies - usually because there's no one else to look after the pet - and the two being cremated together.

Dave Stephens owns the Garden of Remembrance pet memorial park in Albany. Photo / Dean Purcell

At Auckland Pet Funerals, Dave Stephens (owns finches) has set up a pets' Garden of Remembrance at the park he has created on 4ha near Albany. The pet memorial was partly an initiative to encourage people to visit the park.

Great efforts are made to keep interment fees reasonable because, says Stephens, by the time they get to him people may already have spent several thousand dollars trying to keep their pets out of his park.

And that can be any kind of pet. "It's not exclusively cats and dogs," say Stephens. "But I can't cope with bigger animals. I have done one small pony, but you need a mechanical digger. There are a few guinea pigs and rabbits and birds."

The occasions tend to be secular. "Of the 1250 burials I've done, I've only had one religious ceremony and that was a small affair. But most people will have a bit of a talk." And it's often about more than the pet, says Stephens, summing up why so many people are prepared to do so much for their animal companions.

"Sometimes grief over losing a pet can give people an excuse to unload for other scenarios in their lives," he says.

"More often than not it's just the fact that this little creature - with its unconditional love that's always been there, more reliable than a husband who comes home drunk half the time - is very central to a lot of people's lives. People have had more communication with that pet than with any other living creature."