Issue Date: April 21, 2005

Pampered Pets are the Life of These Parties

Tupperware and Avon are so yesterday. Handmade baskets? Gourmet cookware? Been there. Done that.

Instead in-home shopping parties are going to the dogs. There is a new breed of house party where people and their pets can check out the latest for the four-legged set. You can get Aromutt Therapy Shampoo for dogs who are skittish about bath time, mints to banish dog breath, comfy cushions, fetch toys and designer collars, leashes and other hound couture.

For people there are dozens of items emblazoned with the likeness of dogs from Afghans to Yorkies.

Mary Flanagan of Owego, a consultant for Shure Pets Inc., has been giving parties for pampered pooches (coddled kitties, too) for a year and a half. She says it gives her a chance to use her love of animals in a job that lets her be home for her young children. Besides, who could resist a company that sells products through a "cat-alog" and rewards consultants with "bone-uses"?

Her experience is typical of an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds. Americans spent $34.4 billion on their pets last year, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

"What would we do without our pets? They are like our children. We need to spoil them," says Flanagan.

Our beagle, Daisy, would agree with her.

Yet I'm not sure Daisy would go as far as Babie, Krista Welch's basset hound, who had one of Flanagan's doggy makeovers during a recent party in Welch's Owego home.

Flanagan gave Babie a "bath" with a waterless foaming cleanser, a spritz of puppy perfume and hair ribbons to perk up her droopy ears. The crowning touch was a sequined tiara with pink marabou-like trim.

"She loved it. She was the star," Welch says of Babie.

Although Tabitha Shrauger of Owego hasn't been to one of Flanagan's parties, she has purchased grooming supplies for her five bichon frises.

"Bichons are white and they love to play in the dirt. They're very poufy and they have to be groomed daily," says Shrauger. Flanagan's detanglers, conditioners and coat whiteners have become part of the bichons' beauty regime.

"Our pets have a special place in our hearts. Why not let them know how much we appreciate them?" asks Shrauger, who has a wardrobe of clothes for her dogs and leaves her TV tuned to Animal Planet for them.

Nothing says appreciation to Daisy like food. In addition to Shure Pets' goodies, Flanagan plans to sell a second company's dog treats this summer.

The Diggity Dog Bakery, run by a Wisconsin woman, has all-natural homemade cakes, cookies and biscuits for canines. They come ready to eat or as mixes for you to whip up on demand, which in our house would be constantly.

Now there's something Daisy could sink her teeth into. Who needs oatmeal conditioning shampoo when you can have oatmeal cinnamon biscuits?