To serve the growing community of dog owners and enthusiasts, the number of products has mushroomed and pet products have become a $31 billion industry -- up from $17 billion a decade ago, according to Joel Stein in a recent Time magazine report ("It's a Dog's Life, Time, May 19, 2003, 60-62).   At one time, the mainstay of the pet products for dogs was pet food, dog houses, and simple dog toys, like dog bones to gnaw on.  But now the field has mushroomed and there are huge pet emporiums and boutiques to serve this growing community that wants the best for their dogs.  In fact, a great many dog owners look on their pooch as another member of their family and treat it much like they would another child -- or even their only child.   So they lavish great attention and care on it.  While some dogs may still play a role as guard dogs and watch dogs, they combine that with being a much loved family member.   The boom in new products and services reflect this shift in the new closeness that people feel with their dogs.

              Among the biggest pet retailers, which have both stores and a presence on-line are PetCo, which has over 630 stores nationwide, and Pet Food Express, which operates about two dozen stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Plus many supermarkets carry a variety of pet products apart from pet food, and there are many boutiques, both online and in the local community, selling specialty items.   Some of these special items include designer coats, dog jewelry, fashionable ID tags and collars, posters of dogs, and more.. 
 

Architects and designers create building additions and dog houses for Fido, too, and some of the many new services for dogs include pet pspychics, therapists, and masseuses.  Veterinarians even provide acupuncture for dogs, and some vegetarian owners are forgoing the dog's traditional diet to seek out vegetarian and organic food for their pet.  So what if canines have a long tradition as carnivores.  Now some owners would like them to join them in becoming more enlightened New Age canines who no longer eat meat, too.

          Increasingly people want to be able to communicate with their pets, too, as reflected in a new product that proved popular in Japan and is now coming to a store near you in the U.S. in time for Christmas -- it's the Bowlingual, which was manufactured by the Japanese toymaker Takara and introduced in May 2002.  As described in an article on CNET News by Irene Tham (May 10, 2002), the device consists of a wireless microphone attached to the dog's collar which detects the dogs feelings based on how it barks.  Then it transmits those sounds to a terminal which interprets each woof and translates it into a series of phrases, such as "I'm a little bored, let's play" and "I've had enough."  It sells for about $100.  The six categories of emotion are are sad, frustrated, needy, happy, self-expressive and on guard, Owners can also tap into the device when they are away from home to learn how their dog is feeling.  So far the device has sold over 300,000 copies in Japan, which has about 10 million dog owners.  Expectations are even higher for the U.S. which has about 60 million dog owners. ("At Home with Bowlingual" by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service\Tokyo Bureau
April 25, 2003). 
 

        This device is still a fairly simple device that only can pick up the eight major emotions.  But what if a communication device could go even further to pick up a dog's or other pet's thoughts and translate those into English or another language?  If members of the dog community want to know how a dog feels, how much more might they want to know what it actually thinks?   That was the concept behind the Pet Speaker, which began as an imaginary product in an advertising class, several months before the Bowlingual was introduced to the public.   When tested, it proved to be extremely popular.  The sampling of pet store owners and dog owners contacted in a market research study were eager to learn more about it and buy it when available.  In fact, several consumers and pet industry distributors have sent in requests to order the Pet Speaker, thinking the description of it on a Web site described a real product.   And very soon, maybe it could be, now that the technology is catching up with the concept.   One major electronics company even called me to express interest in further developing the concept, and there is a growing community of researchers working with animal sounds and brain patterns that will make this product concept possible.   To learn more about the Pet Speaker, how it looks and works, the market research study done to test out the concept, and the print, radio, and TV advertising campaign created to promote it,  just click the Pet Speaker logo below.  

A growing world of people who
look like their dog--or think so...

What It's All About...