Rashi Narayan’s designer clothes, collars, leashes and shoes for dogs have made a splash of sorts; (below) pooch furniture designed by Rashi Narayan

She lies flat on her stomach and enjoys a hot oil back massage. At the end of the 20-minute sinful session, with a sigh of contentment, she slips into a deep slumber. And no, she’s not an actress or a lady of leisure who’s been pampered with an aromatic oil massage, but a spoilt-silly cocker spaniel. And she simply loves all the pampering at the hands of her groomer, Urmila Dabholkar, who runs Tailwaggers Salon, a dog grooming salon in Mumbai’s upmarket Bandra suburb.

Dabholkar, along with her partner Gauri Keskar, handles around 15-20 different pedigrees a day. On any day, her client profile reads like the who’s who of Bollywood: Salman Khan with his St Bernard and Neapolitan mastiff, Esha Deol with her schitzu and Fardeen Khan with his chow chow.

Besides a basic grooming routine — which includes ear-cleaning and nail-clipping and a good bath — Tailwaggers offers a menu of fancy haircuts, hair and tail colouring and a hydro-therapy massage for its canine clients.

Clearly, a pooch’s life is not what it used to be. Today, it could well be all about days spent in a salon giving in to spa treatments like lavender baths, mud packs, face massages and oatmeal shampoos. Then there are colour touch-ups (for just the tail or tresses) and even glittering nail-paint. And if there’s a wedding in the family, designer attire can be organised — from sherwanis to lehnga-cholis.

Hop across to Delhi-based Rashi Narayan who ensures that her doggy clients make heads turn by wearing togs designed by her. She designs an array of dog clothes, accessories and furniture under her own label, Heads Up For Tails, which she set up in Gurgaon early last year.

Pooja Sathe organises overnight camps for dogs and their owners in and around Mumbai

She says: “The idea kickstarted when I was scouting around for clothes for my two Labradors. When I didn’t find any, I decided to start designing on a professional basis,” she says. She has made a splash of sorts by designing cute dog accessories like hats, hair clips, bandanas, bows, clothes as well as furniture like four-poster beds and floor cushions. “The bridal seasons are the busiest as I get bizarre requests for designing sherwanis, suits and lehenga-cholis for dogs,” she says.

Anchal Malhi’s American cocker spaniel Cadbury was the inspiration for her grooming salon, It’s A Dog’s Life in Mumbai Pix: Gajanan Dudhalkar

Others like Pooja Sathe, a pet trainer who is also behind Mumbai’s Crazy K9 Campers (set up in 2005) provides fun-filled weekend camping for dogs with their owners. The idea came from her Labrador, Jazz who “needed open spaces to play.”

So she enrolled for a three-month canine training course at the Northern Centre for Canine Behaviour and Training, UK, followed by another three-month course at the Apex Agility Centre in the US where she learnt about drills that help increase a dog’s speed and movement.

She says: “In today’s hectic life, everybody needs a break and this is applicable for dogs too.” She conducts two-day camps for dogs — and their owners

— in and around Mumbai offering activities for both the pets and their owners. It’s bonding at its best as dog and owner get to play games, go trekking and swimming. It costs between Rs 600 and Rs 2,500 per dog while the owner pays extra.

Looking good, feeling great

It’s truly a dog’s life as a battery of dog lovers are going all out to cater to the needs of their furry friends. Says Shirin Merchant, a canine behaviour specialist in Mumbai: “People are coming up with innovative ideas to keep their dogs happy, so the industry is flourishing.”

Urmila Dabholkar (far left) and Gauri Keskar’s Tailwaggers Salon handles around 15-20 different pedigrees a day, with clients including the who’s who of Bollywood

Awareness about the need to keep your dog in the best shape and in good health is also at an all-time high. Says Shweta Khurana, editor, Dogs & Pups, Delhi: “Dogs are often treated as family and with double-income families on the rise, people are willing to spend lavishly on their pets.”

Early this year, 23-year-old Aanchal Malhi set up a one-stop-shop, It’s A Dog’s Life, in Mumbai’s Colaba that offers all the dog-stuff and also a grooming salon. A journalism graduate from Monash University in Australia, Malhi says: “The market offers great opportunities as people are willing to spend generously on their dogs.”

What started as a basic grooming routine for her two dogs — an American cocker spaniel and a golden retriever — is now a full-fledged business venture with a growing clientele. Malhi took up a four-month grooming course from the Dog Care Academy in Singapore last year.

At her studio, a basic grooming session (ear cleaning, nail-clipping, a beauty bath and blow dry) is priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000. Other add-ons include applying doggy nail-polish, a bubble-bath and facial massage (yes, that’s right).

Meanwhile there’s Cookie Khanna, a certified groomer from the New York School of Dog Grooming, who has set up Top Dog, a dog salon in Mumbai. Each session, that includes a haircut, nail-clipping, a hot oil massage and a bath, has been priced between Rs 550 and Rs 2,000. She says: “Owning an exotic breed has become a kind of a status symbol today and hence the importance of grooming.”

The Bangalore-based husband-wife team, Varun and Sherry Daroch, were dentists before they gave in to their love for dogs and took a grooming course from the Dog Care Academy, Singapore.

Rohini Fernandes trains dogs to assist people with disabilities

Last year they opened a dog spa in Bangalore called Shevar Spa that offers de-stressing therapies for canines. The bestseller is an ice-cream spa bath in which the dog is given a shampoo bath — and an ice-cream at the end of the session. A 40-minute spa therapy will set you back by anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000. “Our USP lies in different kinds of hair-styling and dental treatments for dogs,” says Sherry.

In order to ensure a steady stream of loyal clientele, it’s important to know everything related to the pet care industry. Says Malhi: “I read up about new breeds and different grooming techniques on the Net.”

Despite a favourable environment, almost everybody agrees that there are several challenges to be faced in the business. From sourcing new equipment for grooming to spreading awareness about dogs and looking after them, it is not an easy task. While it was difficult for Sathe to convince hotel owners to allow dogs on their premises, Khanna had difficulty in making people understand the need for dog hygiene and Wasiff Khan of Home Care Dog Food in Mumbai, had to initially try out his food samples on stray dogs.

Food for thought

Wasiff Khan’s Home Care Dog Food delivers special home-cooked meals for canines

It’s not just the looks which matter and owners are just as concerned about the dog’s nutrition. For 29-year-old Wasiff Khan, this concern was the driving force behind his company Home Care Dog Food, which creates meals for dogs. Says Khan: “I started by playing a research analyst studying the prospects of home cooked meals for dogs. I went from door-to-door with a questionnaire to understand whether such a thing would actually work,” he says.

Khan started out by cooking the standard doggy fare of meat and rice. Soon the business grew and now he has an enviable list of politicians, film stars and industrialists who are ordering-in for their pets.

He now has 23 people working with him who can customise 16 different menus according to the breed of the dogs. The meals are divided into two categories — regular and premium — and cost anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 150.

Touch therapy

Varun Daroch grooms a pet at his spa in Bangalore

Newer avenues can also be explored in the ‘dog business’. There are Mumbai-based clinical psychologists Rohini Fernandes and Radhika Nair who decided to take their fondness for animals to another level by training them for dog-therapy — where the canines help humans.

According to them, dogs play multiple roles and are of great use in treating social and psychological disorders. “Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is where trained animals assist a medical professional to motivate or improve social, verbal and physical skills of human beings,” says Fernandes.

Both are certified practitioners of AAT from the University of North Texas, US and they set up their Animal Angels Foundation in Mumbai in 2005.

Today, they have 20 therapy dogs working with people with disabilities (autism, cerebral palsy), those suffering from psychiatric disorders (like schizophrenia, depression), physical illnesses and others with behavioural problems. Currently, they work closely with several rehabilitation centres, old age homes and orphanages and will soon be taking their organisation to other cities of India.

Meanwhile, Pooja Sathe also advises owners before they buy their pets. Malhi is keen to include professional dog-walkers at her centre and to open a day care centre for dogs in future.

However, Merchant suggests that dog owners need to check out the actual credentials of a professional groomer. “Though a formal training is not important, certification in grooming and dog behaviour gives you a better understanding in the long run,” she says.