“I thought you were planning our vacation?” asks my husband, Dan, looking over my shoulder as I Internet surf.
“I am.”
“By shopping for a dog gate?”
“To enjoy my vacation, I need to know Theo and Oliver have a nice, safe place to stay inside the house.”
“To enjoy my vacation, I need to know we have a nice, safe place to stay outside our house, like a hotel room.”
“This one is good but isn’t wide enough to reach across the hallway. This one is sturdy, but you’d have to drill it into the wall. This one is too tall to step over. This one looks like a chicken coop. Who knew this would take more research than a master’s thesis? Oh, hey! This one comes with a toy box attached.”
“For goodness’ sakes, they’re dogs.”
“They’re family.”
“They have custom feather beds, which cost Lord knows how much, and a pet sitter coming three times a day. Now they need a special gate?”
“So they have their own apartment.”
“Next you’ll be sending in filet mignon every night.”
“Look at them. They know I’m leaving.”
We turn to see Theo and Oliver, our two bichon frises, watching with worried expressions.
“They have each other.”
“They won’t have me.”
“You’re way overestimating yourself.”
“Are you saying they won’t miss me?”
“I’m saying they have a pet sitter.”
“You’d replace me with a pet sitter?”
“What I meant was . . .”
“Don’t answer that.”
I go back to shopping. I finally find one that meets my criteria: removable but stable, attractive yet functional, with cherry-wood sliding panels that won’t mar the wall. I order it.
“How much was that?” Dan asks.
Whatever I say will be the wrong answer, so I dodge.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take it out of the hotel budget. How do you think they’d like their steaks?”
I don’t apologize for fawning over my dogs like a tween girl over Justin Bieber. Besides, I have lots of company — especially in dog-loving Colorado.
According to Dallas-based interior designer, author and dog lover Betty Lou Phillips, Americans are becoming increasingly obsessed with their pets, and our homes reflect that. However, we remain well behind the French, who even have a word for their lavish spoiling of dogs — toutoumania.
Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson lives in Castle Rock. She is the author of “House of Havoc” and “The House Always Wins” (Da Capo Press). Contact her through .
Doggone good taste
In Paris, designer Betty Lou Phillips tells me, a salon offers color restoration for dogs whose fur has faded, and a patisserie just for dogs offers fois gras and carob truffles. “In both cultures, small dogs are a fashion and household accessory. We spare no expense,” says Phillips, whose next book, “French Impressions” (Gibbs Smith Publishers, due Oct. 1), includes a section on “toutoumania.” As pet mania takes over our country, too, as well as my home, here are some ways Americans are feathering their nests with pets in mind.
Music to their ears. To accommodate animals’ more sensitive hearing, Pet Acoustics, a company based in Washington Depot, Conn., sells speakers that make human music more pleasing to animal ears. The speakers () eliminate the high and low frequencies that put pets on edge, and transform tunes into melodies that soothe dogs, cats and horses and their humans. Pet lovers may also buy pet-preferred music and an iPhone app.
Cat walks. Folks who want their cats to have safe access to the outdoors are putting in catios (), covered patio playgrounds for felines.
In the doghouse. Tired of tripping over dog bowls and litter boxes, many pet owners solve the problem by customizing cabinetry. When Michelle Johnston of Sacramento remodeled her kitchen, for instance, she had a cutout put in the pantry for dog bowls beneath a shelf for dog accessories. Others have added pullout cabinets with plastic liners for pet food. Kristi Linauer, an interior decorator from Waco, Texas, turned an old secretary desk into a food- and-water station for her cats and dog. And New York designer Heather Higgins has added built-in cabinets in clients’ homes that serve as doghouses. “The face looks like a cabinet, but the side has a cutout large enough for the dog to go through.”
Pet spa. To create in-home pet-grooming stations, some homeowners have outfitted their mud or laundry rooms with shower heads over drains, a counter for blow-drying and an adjacent cubby for towels, grooming supplies and treats. A pet massage room is next.
Sleep like a dog. “Our pets just want to be with us,” says Susan Schroder, owner of Cushion Works in San Francisco, a maker of custom pet beds for 29 years. “As more people realize one pet bed isn’t enough, they want two or three around the house.” Pet lovers are also getting fussier about their pets’ mattresses. “For a 2-pound poodle, I make a soft, fluffy pillow that can go in the wash. For a 160-pound Great Dane with arthritis, I create a mattress with high-density foam, memory-foam pillow top and removable washable cover.” Both are available in your pet’s choice of fabric from .
