My wife and I own two dogs. They are considered a part of the family and we try to include them in many of our activities. This means that we have accumulated a great deal of dog stuff through the years. It is amazing the amount of advertising there is that gets directed towards dog owners and pet owners in general. The marketers know that people love their pets and are willing to spend a great deal of money on them. It seems that each holiday season there is more and more dog stuff in the stores.

This past holiday season I could not believe my eyes when I was in the accessory section of a national department store. At first I thought there was a new section of doll clothing that was placed in this section. Upon closer examination I realized that the clothes were for dogs. Along with the clothes there were beds, toys, designer dishes and other dog stuff. This is a store that does not ordinarily have a pet section. I asked one of the sales clerks when this section of dog stuff had been added. She stated that it was part of their holiday campaign nation wide. It seems that people were requesting more items that they could purchase, not only for their dog, but for the dogs of their friends. I jokingly asked if this did not snub cat owners, but I was told that the cat merchandize was on the opposite side of the display I was looking at.

The dog stuff included very elaborate outfits for the holidays. Velvet dresses, satin off the shoulder cocktail dresses, and the more traditional knit sweaters. There were also collars that were studded with sequins and stones. I could tell that the sales clerk was not thrilled with this new merchandize. I commented that our female dog would certainly prefer precious stones. When I said this she lead me over to the fine jewelry counter and showed me a display of precious and semi precious collars. I could not believe what I was seeing.

I knew that there were specialty stores and catalogs that handled this kind of dog stuff, but I never thought that it would be featured in a national department store. The clerk mentioned that they had a large display of Halloween costumes in the fall along with special treats for the four legged trick or treater's.

I came home and told my wife about the display of dog stuff. She commented that we might be recipients of some of the items, because our family members and friends know that we pamper our dogs. I told her that if we did get something I hoped it would be the 14 carat gold collar with the pearl pendant.