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Home > The Athens Banner-Herald >
Living

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Living

Dog, cat lovers stop at nothing to pamper their pals

Pet owners go ape

Story Photos - Click to Enlarge

StaffPawtropolis employee
April Wexel throws the ball to the large dogs in their outside play area Friday.
Pawtropolis provides daycare, boarding, obedience training, grooming, adoptions,
a doggie spa, and a pet boutique.
Kelly Lambert / Staff

Kelly Lambert / Staff

Dude watches a television in one of the Bed and
Biscuit Suites.
Kelly Lambert / Staff

Lauren Dooley grooms Eddie at Pawtropolis.

Kelly Lambert / Staff

Cats relax in the Kitty City room.
Kelly
Lambert / Staff

Click thumbnails to view

By: Beth jones   |   [email-masked]   |   Story updated at 8:37 PM on Thursday, April 26, 2007

Tiki gets her hair and nails done every two weeks.

Tiki stays svelte eating grilled chicken and tuna.

Tiki's favorite way of spending a warm Georgia Saturday? Sunning by the
pool.

Picturing a blonde, happy-go-lucky co-ed?

Nah. Our Tiki would require hours of electrolysis before any sorority would
consider her.

Tiki is a 4-year-old black Labrador. Her pet mom is Leslie Kimbel, one of
many local pet owners who demand the best for their animals and are willing to
prove it with the Benjamins.

"Athens is a very pet-friendly town," said Amanda Rodriguez, the owner of
Pawtropolis, which offers doggie daycare and a host of other pet pampering
services. "People just love their pets here."

But it's not only the home of the dawgs that has gone to the dogs.

Nationally, pet spending has more than doubled from $17 billion in 1994 to a
projected $40.8 billion for 2007, according to the American Pet Products
Manufacturers Association.

Bob Vetere, president of APPMA, attributes the increase to empty-nesting baby
boomers and young professionals who put off human children for their careers -
two groups with lots of disposable income.

Rodriguez is betting her piggy bank the trend won't slow down any time
soon.

She recently opened a brand new Pawtropolis building at 130 Whitetail Way off
Atlanta Highway in western Clarke County after five years at a location on
Athens West Parkway. The new digs allows Rodriguez to offer a host of new ways
for owners to pamper their babies.

The doting daddy of a Pekingese no longer has to sit at his desk wondering
whether or not little Tinkerbell is still obsessed with the portly fawn pug. He
simply clicks open one of the Pawtropolis Web cams to see if she's still
following puggie everywhere he goes.

(Rodriguez cautions the Web cams can be addictive. "I will go ahead and
apologize to all the bosses out there," she writes on her Web site).

At the new Pawtropolis, the Weimaraner and the Bearded Collie can splash in
an underground wading pool while the Whippet and the Golden Retriever frolic on
more than hundreds of dollars of new play equipment. (Price for a day of doggie
daycare: $18).

Pawtropolis has traditional overnight boarding services ($28 a night). And
the new facility now also offers luxury boarding for the more discerning
poochie. Bed and Biscuit suites ($40 a night) are private rooms with amenities
like toddler beds tastefully decorated with cartoon character linens and
flat-screen televisions that play animal movies such as "Lady and the Tramp."
Guest services include a "massage" petting session as well as a cuddle with a
staff member who reads the pampered pooch a good-night story.

With everything she offers, Rodriguez still has clients who ask for even more
VIP treatment for their pets - and she delivers. One owner brought her a picture
illustrating how to properly mix her dog's food. One Dachshund needs to be
tucked in at naptime.

Sara Epstein opened her business Z-Dog Bakery and Pet Supply on Jefferson
Road more than a year ago to cater to pet owners who believe their Cocker
Spaniel deserves human-grade food. The bakery uses organic flour and oats and
free-range eggs for its doggie treats ($5 for a dozen peanut butter dog
treats).

More customers have found their way to Z-Dog since the recent widespread pet
food recall.

"For many of us, dogs are our children - our family," Epstein writes on her
Web site. "So we want them to live healthy and happy lives for as long as they
possibly can."

Epstein had a full house of pets and their owners in February when the bakery
hosted a pet photographer. "It was packed," she said.

On Saturday, her store will again serve as a pet photo studio from 12 to 3
p.m. Photos are $17 and proceeds go to Athens Canine Rescue.

Rebekah Rogers has made fine animal portraits of Athens pets for 13 years.
Her workload varies, but she averages about one portrait a week (prices range
from $75 to about $500 depending on the size of the piece and number of animals
included in the artwork).

Some of her customers want a portrait to remember a beloved companion who has
died. Others simply think there's no better way to decorate their abode than
with the image of their darling Beagle Betsy.

"Some people just want to show their love for dogs," Rogers said.

An APPMA survey of pet owners found 27 percent of dog owners and 13 percent
of cat owners buy their pets birthday presents. And local pet stores offer
plenty of goodies for purchase: frilly pink dresses, yellow rain slickers,
rhinestone tiaras and $150 doggie strollers for pooches too refined to hoof it
on their own.

Rodriguez thinks there's a market for even more pet services in Athens. She's
launching a new pet taxi service. Now Pawtropolis employees will drive to your
house, pick up your German Shepherd and cart her to the vet for vaccines or to
Grandma's house.

Kimbel, a 45-year-old nurse manager for VistaCare Hospice, says she could
have bought a house with the money she's spent on Tiki over the years, but it's
a small price to pay considering how much joy Tiki brings to her life.

"She deserves it," Kimbel explained.

Published in the Athens
Banner-Herald on 042707

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