Selling cars used to be an easier game: Pick a wide swath of the market and advertise your products to as many people as possible. But that's not working so well these days. Customers want products tailored to their needs and desires. Enter Honda's Dog Friendly Element, a version of the boxy, small sport utility vehicle aimed at dogs -- and their owners.
A $1,000 dealer-installed accessory package on the 2010 model that went on sale today adds a ramp, a soft-sided dog cage, a water bowl, special doggy badges and a few other features to the Element.
[Source: Cleveland.com]
When a couple splits up, what happens to the pooch?
A New Jersey judge settled the question Monday in a costly legal battle that began after the Monroe Township couple called off their engagement in 2006. Eric Dare and Doreen Houseman are to share Dexter, the pug they both love.
They'll get turns caring for the dog, starting promptly at 6 p.m. every fifth Friday.
Judge Ronald Tomasello said the arrangement would last until 6-year-old Dexter "goes to the Great Kennel in the Sky."
Originally, the judge awarded the dog to Dare. The police officer had paid for the dog.
Houseman appealed, saying a dog should not be treated as just another possession.
[Source: Philly.com]
Nearly half (48 percent) of dog owners polled said they could not live without their dog on a daily basis — more so than their morning cup of coffee (35 percent), television (35 percent), car (26 percent), cell phone/BlackBerry (23 percent) or best human friend (15 percent). In conjunction with the launch of a new website and contest, Beneful, a brand of dog food made by St. Louis-based Nestle Purina Petcare, has released the results of its recent survey on dog ownership.
According to the national survey, 95 percent of the 797 dog owners age 25 and up polled agreed that spending time with their four-legged friend lifted their spirits. Ninety-two percent said their dog helps them enjoy life’s simple pleasures! To check out all the survey findings, head on over to DogChannel.com
Wedding attendants are going to the dogs. Pet-loving couples are increasingly including their dogs (and other pets, to a much lesser degree) in the wedding parties of some very formal weddings — decking them out in silk and satin and including them in the receiving line, on the program and in the portraits.
"Many people think of their pets as family members, and they wouldn't think of having a special day like this without that member," says Celina Bojorquez, co-owner of Beverly Hills Mutt Club, purveyor of upscale accessories like doggie tuxedos & couture dresses.
Though pets have long been part of casual weddings in meadows, on mountaintops and at the seashore, their participation in chichi affairs at the most ornate churches and refined locales is a more recent phenomenon.
Lynda Barness of I Do Wedding Consulting in Philadelphia always warns couples of the potential perils — "animals are animals, and they can do animal things," she says — and so far all her clients have concluded that including pets in the wedding party isn't necessary. "But as part of the portraits, that's just fine."
Beth Anstandig of Los Gatos, Calif., acknowledges there may be matters to work out but says having her own two border collies involved made her wedding day even more special. "The guests loved it," she says. And she and her husband cherish the photos featuring the dogs — especially because both have since died.
"We are so happy to be able to look back and remember them as they were on that day."
To read the full story, USAtoday.com
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