Text by Chie Matsumoto
chiez2001@yahoo.com
For many dog owners around the world, their canine partners are not just their best friends. Some owners have tripped over the line demarcating rational behavior from the bizarre. In the presence of such owners, try not to call their animals "dogs." "Doggies" may get you in trouble. These canines, previously referred to as "like" family members, have morphed into "my babies." When speaking of the dog-human family, outsiders may be required to refer to the dog's owners as Mom and Dad.
This love for "their babies" has gone to the extremes in Japan. The Moms and Dads are seeking quality services and goods to satisfy their barking children's needs--and their own.
Carefully tailored dietary programs and insurances are nothing new. For special occasions such as Christmas or birthdays, four-legged creatures get elaborately wrapped bone-shaped cookies under the tree and birthday cakes with their names and candles on them. If you thought that was bad enough--or good enough, wait til you see these barking children in Japan receive their individual beauty therapies and designer clothes to look extra special.
Shoko Mizuta couldn't look ever so happy when she opened the Hermes box. As soon as she took out the 184,000-yen (248,400-euro) bag, she put her two chihuahuas, Mee and Row, inside. Did the nervously barking dogs love it? Who knows? But they went awfully quiet when Mizuta picked them up in the bag, and it was for the dogs, anyway. They know of the good quality. This was the 8th dog carry the owner spent so much money on.
At the Mizuta family, this is just the beginning. Mee and Row have their own room furnished with a chest of drawers, cabinets for food plates and bowls, sofas and a bed covered with pink boa and laced curtain. On a budget of 3 million yen (4.05 million euro), Mizuta renovated the room in her house in the western Japan to dedicate it just for her two new family members about a year ago.
Mizuta is most proud to re-enact the Hollywood movie "Legally blond" in Japan. Since the movie screening, the wanna-be "legally brunette" kicked the Japanese brands, which fail to give her and her dogs one of a kind looks. In pursuit of unique and gorgeous appearance, she chose Fifi & Romeo as what her chihuahuas should only wear.
"I can't stand modesty and frugality," Mizuta says at her Tokyo apartment, which she is also trying to decorate with Italian furniture to make it comfortable for her chihuahuas. "It is my life buying clothes for my babies and giving them best of what's out there. I must admit that sometimes I do treat the dogs like Barbie dolls, which you enjoy dressing up. The difference is, though, my dogs have warm blood running through them. Besides, I know they like it too."
True, she devotes most of her time in search of best service and goods for her pure-bred. Mizuta practically buys every outfit that Fifi & Romeo introduces and has it sent to her apartment. In the specially designed closet for Mee and Row, the chihuahuas have so many pieces of clothes ranging from aloha shirts and evening gowns to angora sweaters and baseball uniforms that they would never be able to try all during their lifetime.
Trimming, shampoo and nail jobs must be taken care of at a salon in Tokyo's fashion center Ginza once in 10 days for 20,000 yen (27,000 euro) while the regular health check-up including a blood test goes for 30,000 yen (40,500 euro) every six months, along with the specially designed dietary program and supplement for 30,000 yen. When she hears about high-quality furniture for dogs, she spends a whole afternoon hunting it down. She never forgets to order a new dog carry whenever Louis Vitton, Gucci or Chanel introduces. Collars and leashes also need to match with their outfits.
"I do what it takes to maintain the quality of life for my dogs because they can't speak up their needs," Mizuta says. "I don't believe that I'm that extreme. I just think the total coordination is very important. Basically I do what it takes to look good. I spent time and money to embellis myself before I met the dogs, but now they are my priorities."
To satisfy the needs of her dogs and herself, Mizuta spends well over 400,000 yen (540,000 euro) a month, more than the entire household income for many families in Japan. Aiming to become the best Mom of the canine family members of Japan, Mizuta says it's still much less than what she spends for herself. Unlike human children, no outrageous university tuition is in sight or imported Mercedes and BMW will never be demanded by her children. Without a question, she thinks her money well spent.
Mizuta is not alone with this philosophy. A family of 9-year-old Golden Retriever, Willie, brought him to soak in the spa for his bad heart. Along with Willie, Fidos and Fifis can frolic in a Jacuzzi or paddle about in the natural hot springs bath at Dog Petit Resort Joker Tsunayoshi-no-yu, which was named after a shogun famed for his concern for the welfare of dogs.
Hajime Oda and his wife decided to try out this newly opened spa for their toy poodle puppies, Tiffany and Moko, one weekend as soon as they read about it in a magazine. The parents didn't need to think twice about getting their girls any services for their well-being. Now that their days are over with their biological human sons, the Odas shifted their love and care to their canine children.
"Our sons complain that we spend more money on dogs than on them," Oda says as he was trying new shirts on Tiffany and Moko after their nice 30-minute spa experience. His wife doesn't mind that. She certainly enjoys dressing up her furry daughters in cute outfits.
"I could not do this with my boys," she says. "I'm finally getting the benefits of having girls to take them around and show off to people."
The considerate owners who spend about 3,000 yen (4,050 euro) say their canine children come out nice and silky after a soak in four different kinds of baths. If they are seeking more relaxation and inner beauty, they can also try out mud packs, overall body massage and aroma therapy, with the aroma substance individually concocted to meet the health and preference of each dog.
Many clients regularly visit the spa partly because this is one of the very few bath houses for dogs and because the owners themselves can soak in the tub next door. Though most wish that they were able to get mud pack and massage right next to their beloved pets, many wait videotaping and photographing their puppies receiving the special treatment at the massage parlor. The video clips and photos are sure to mark the unforgettable moments in their albums.
A family should share the joy, right? That's what Kayo Iida does with her chihuahua, Canon. Especially on her birthday, Iida orders a birthday cake from Three Dog Bakery in Tokyo's high-end residential neighborhood. The U.S.-based chain bakery is packed on weekends with nearly 100 dog lovers. But since Canon is about the size of her own birthday cake, her 27-year-old slender mother and a father help finish the bone-shaped cake.
"I always share it with Canon," says Iida, who also bakes cookies and cakes at home for her dog. "It doesn't taste bad. It is sweetened just like how the cake tastes like, but not too much. It tastes kind of like diet food."
Whatever the cost, these owners are trying to meet the special needs of their four-legged babies, who can express their feelings only by growling, whimpering or peeing on the carpet. It is much cheaper to spoil the barking children than their human offsprings, they say.
Dogs D'Amoure - Japan