Dog Friendly Holiday House Sunshine Coast Queensland

So, have you bought your pet a Valentine present yet?

"It's really incredible how many people will," says Margaret Hennessy, director of Dogue, House of Canine Couture, in Manly and Bondi Junction.

"People are divided into two camps - those who have it as the last thing on their list and those who have it as the first. I'm always amazed by the number of people for whom it's the first."

Pet lovers won't stop at a mere $2 Puptisserie treat. They know there's a new way to pamper a pet and satisfy their decorating urge at the same time: buy their pet some serious designer furniture.

Matching your pet's accessories to your own decorating taste is big business.

"We spend so much on our decor and our dogs live with us, so I know how important it is to have pet things you wouldn't mind people looking at in the living room or the open-plan kitchen," says Lisa Wolfenden, dog trainer and owner of Dogs and the City in Double Bay.

At her store, modernists can find a moulded plywood pet bed called Dog Pod ($990). If you're more of a French provincial fan, there's a woven wicker lounge for le chien in your life ($639). "Even dog bowls and kitty litter trays are important decorating features," says Wolfenden, who sells Bunnykins bowls to her clientele to use as dog bowls.

It's not just pet stores where you'll find Fido's snappiest furniture. At the ultra-chic Hub Furniture in Surry Hills, which specialises in high-end European designer furnishings, teetering by the front door is a pile of dog and cat lounges by funky Danish designers Fatboy (from $169).

What's going on? Owner Jacqueline Foti-Lowe says: "In Australia, we have always had a pet culture and the dog has always been part of the family. Their requirements affect our furnishings, so it's important it doesn't clash."

Does she have one at her place? "Of course!"

And at Top 3 By Design in Crows Nest and Bondi Junction there is the brightly coloured Italian brand Magis Dog House, for $829.

If that is a bit pricey, the good news is that Ikea is now in on the animal act. Among the standard pet paraphernalia you will find witty coat hooks shaped like a dog's hind legs with waggy tails ($2.95 each) and towel rails in the shape of dog bones ($12.95).

"I guess we're being honest about the fact that our dogs are now part of the family," says Dr Kersti Seksel, a veterinary specialist in animal behaviour.

"For a lot of people their pet is now their companion. I don't think we're treating our pets differently - our ability to look after their health and welfare is the same. But our feeling for what we want to do for our pets has changed. When I was growing up, we had a dog kennel for our dogs - now you can have a three-bedroom dog kennel. It's a sign of the affluence we have."

Seksel is relieved that Sydneysiders are not as excessive in dog deification as some in the US. At www.poshliving.com you can buy your pet an "estate", a miniature palace reminiscent of Southfork on Dallas for $US6000 ($6788).

So by comparison our ambitions for our pets seem to be more modest. Hennessy says the enthusiasm with which we've embraced the latest pet accessories is partly driven by the retail fix it gives us. "People enjoy spending their money on their dogs. It's another way of expressing your interest in your dogs that is not just walking or feeding them," she says.

For Seksel, what's happening signifies an interesting cultural shift in what we regard as acceptable behaviour towards our pets.

"In Egyptian times people bought jewels for their cats and if their cat died they would shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning," she says.

"[Now] the culture of the day decides that it would be unacceptable for a dog to go out without a collar and lead but that dressing them up is not."

As to whether lavishing designer goodies on our pets gives them the same aesthetic pleasure it gives us, Seksel is not convinced. She suspects it's something our pets learn to tolerate, rather than relish.

"It's like a dog that I know that wears goggles in his owner's open-top sports car - he doesn't mind. He's just worked out that it's part of the deal, like wearing a collar for a walk."

Anything that improves the animal's quality of life, though, is a good thing. "A soft bed and warm blanket for a dog with arthritis is sensible. Steps for old dogs so they can climb on to the furniture is sensible, too," says Seksel.

Diane Sheehan, president of the Australian Veterinary Association, is cautious of this latest trend. "There's a whole industry out there that panders to the social status of the owners," she observes.

"We're projecting our feelings and thoughts onto animals. I say to people that come in and want to change their animal's diet, 'dog food for dogs, people food for people.'"

Does this mean dogs don't have their own built-in "taste"? "There's no evidence; there's no real research that's been done. The fact is there could very well be a downside. More animals are having behavioural problems than before. Our pampered pets are going to be problem pets.

"The fact is we aren't really doing our dogs a service by giving them more status. It isn't good for them. They need to be treated as part of the family but lower down the social order."

Stuck for the perfect present for your pooch? You can try these offbeat festive options:
* Puppy and dog parties - Pooch party specialists can host a Valentines party for your pup's doggie day care friends. They'll play games like sitting pup, Simon barks and tunnel relay. From $30 per dog, www.furkidz.com.au.
* Healing hands - Become more than your dog's best friend, be his or her therapist with this DVD and workbook on canine massage from National College for Traditional Medicine. $39.95, www.ozdoggy.com.au.
* Get physical - Doga: Yoga for Dogs is a book of yoga exercises for your dog. Find it for $31.95 + postage at www.mollycoddledpets.com.au.
* Something worth watching - The Movie For Dogs DVD is an action-packed adventure designed to keep your dog company when it's home alone. The makers claim the vision and sound effects are purposely designed to satisfy a dog's social needs. Sells for $US9.95 ($11), plus shipping, from www.themoviefordogs.com.
* Pet horoscope - what's the outlook for your loving companion's day? Check it out at www.thepawsstore.com.au.

The four-legged princess

Designer clothes, Swarovski crystal jewellery, imported French furniture - Bindi has quite a life for a 20-month-old puppy. Her owner, Kim Buchanan, says: "I do like buying pink items and girlie things for Bindi; she gets to be the height of fashion down in the park. But when it came to furniture, I didn't want gaudy colours. I wanted it to blend in with the rest of the house."

Buchanan, a sales representative from the St George district, splurged $639 on a lime-washed wicker dog lounge from Dogs and the City in Double Bay for her Pomeranian-Shitzu cross. "It matches the decor. When people come over, I'm not thinking, 'Oh my God, hide the dog bed.' I wanted it to stand out for the right reasons and it does. I also bought some imported dog bowls and people say, 'Oh, you have a nice arrangement of bowls.'"

Buchanan jokes that humans control the top half of her home, while anything on the floor is the dog's domain. "During the day Bindi sits on her couch like a princess," she says. But not at night, of course, for Bindi has wangled her way into Buchanan's bed. "But if I'm late to bed, she'll go straight to her lounge to wait for me."

Is Bindi a child substitute? "Totally." says Buchanan. "I don't have any children yet but she brings so much joy into our life." As for who gets the most pleasure from the clothes and designer furnishings, Buchanan laughs. "I get my [shopping] fix as well as Bindi gets to be the height of fashion."