Pets + design. What more do you need?
As household pets outnumber children , we are seeing a burgeoning industry of goods, services and accessories tailored to our increasingly pampered pooches and kitties. DnA takes a look at the trend, to coincide with KCRW’s launch of Dogs Of LA: a map of the region’s most popular dogs and canine names.
Last week, a study confirmed a long-held suspicion that dogs look like their owners; below are nine items that demonstrate that your pets can live like their owners.
1. Adopt & Shop
This week’s L.A. Designer is the twosome responsible for the boutique look of Adopt & Shop, a one-stop adoption, pet accessory store, and doggie grooming, training and daycare center headquartered in Culver City. Pam Juba and Carlie Campesi literally put doggie in a window. To break from the cold, forlorn quality of regular caged shelters, they created spacious kennel areas and framed them with colorful windows to entice potential adopters.
2. Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar
“You live a stylish and progressive lifestyle, and your pet companion should too,” declares the website of Pussy & Pooch Pethouse and Pawbar, a boutique, pawbar and bathhouse all rolled into one. A “paw bar,” by the way, is a riff on trendy raw bars where uncooked foods like oysters and other shellfish are served. “Modern” canines and cats might enjoy the “raw meat meals, simmered stews and meaty bones” at Pussy & Pooch. And after they’re done, they can prance around on a patch of k9 grass (grass designed for dogs) and tinkle on a fake fire hydrant. Plus, one Yelper says their grooming service is “TOP SHELF.” Pussy & Pooch has four locations, all within Southern California, with their largest and most elaborate, 12,000 square foot “pet lifestyle center,” in Beverly Hills.
3. BlueCollar Working Dog
With graphics that recall a time when the regular worker was honored as the backbone of society, the Echo Park-based shop BlueCollar Working Dog celebrates the working class pooch: service, police, rescue and other working (and outdoor) dogs. According to their website, “dogs love to learn and are happiest when given a job to do.” Their products, mostly dog food, focus on nutrition so they can best perform in their canine careers; and, they also run obedience classes.
4. Architecture for Dogs
5. Pet Suites in Private Homes Angelenos are increasingly designing and remodeling their homes to accommodate their four-legged friends. Shown above, the “pet suite” is available to purchasers of a luxury Standard Pacific Home in the Southland. The LA Times reported that more dog owners are asking designers for pooch-friendly spaces, ordering specialized cabinets for pet bowls and food, and adding canine-only showers and tubs.” Jennifer Wolch, dean of the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, told the Times, “Such inclusive designs range from apartment complexes with dog-washing facilities, cat-friendly interior design, dog runs, trails and parks, and entire communities oriented toward living with companion and other animals.” 
6. Private Dog Park in West Hollywood
The capital of dogdom just might be the City of West Hollywood where dog owners are referred to as “guardians” and dogs sometimes attend council meetings. But there is a lack of dog park space, prompting Mayor John d’Amico to disparage plans for a showplace new park with three children‘s play areas as proof of the “institutional fetishization of kids.” At Westview Towers’ condo owners took matters into their own hands, creating a residents dog park (above, in photo by dog “guardian” Charlie Renico; Daphne, the cute little terrior, is his). Daphne and others enjoy mature trees, a small cement patio area, artificial grass, loose pebbles, some stone benches, and small table and chairs, and a dog waste station (pretty much the same kind that you’d find on a city street in West Hollywood).
7. Dogipot Stands
Another feature of dog living in West Hollywood is the ubiquitous “Dogipot.” That is the pet station invented a decade ago that incorporates in one green-painted post: a pet sign reminding dog owners to dispose of dog waste; a dispenser of litter pick up bags and a trash receptacle. The one shown above in a photo by Weho dog owner Charlie Renico is in the dog park at Westview Towers (see previous item).
9. Eco Pet Handbags
This one is for the dog and kitty “guardians.” Los Angeles-based designer Laura Ambrosio Shnitzer takes Fancy Feast to a new level with her line of totes, cosmetic bags and clutches constructed from salvaged pet food containers and other recycled materials. Her line is called “Eco Pet Handbags,” and they range in price from $34-$160 with a portion of the proceeds going to animal shelters and other charities.
Admittedly we focused on dogs and cats for this piece. If you know of any interesting ways people are designing for their fish, snake, hamster, iguana or other critters, let us know in the comments.
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