YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community


Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member!

Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us.

Go Back   YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community > Yorkie News & Site Announcements
Register Blogs FAQ Calendar JavaChat Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 03-20-2007, 05:10 PM   #1
Senior Yorkie Talker
 
blackwidow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Wellman, Texas (Lubbock)
Posts: 156
Default [News] Pet benefits

We might be spending a lot on our dogs and cats, but many of us feel it?s worth it to have companionship
Jim Gibson, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, March 16, 2007

Kiwi, a three-year-old Yorkshire terrier, has two cashmere argyle sweaters purchased for $48.95 each at Sidney?s Reigning Cats and Dogs. Her owner, Ursula Thomas, also has a cashmere sweater, but ?only because it was given to me as a Christmas present.?

The pampered pet seems the new reality of the millennium. But some argue it?s good for the owners? mental and physical health.

Thomas, a senior living alone, isn?t quite sure what she spends annually on her Yorkie companion. There?s the $50 monthly professional grooming fee to start and a burgeoning drawer of doggie jewelry and clothing, including a fake fur party coat in the second bedroom of Thomas?s Victoria condo. Aside from a variety of carrying cases, she also has buggy for her dog, something Kiwi likes to avoid, like much of her wardrobe.

?I try not to make a real fool of myself,? laughs Thomas, seated with Kiwi on her lap and a huge basket of toys nearby; the Yorkie ignores the toys, except for a scrunched-up plastic bag.

All this is money well spent, according to the Ontario Veterinary Association, which on its website documents U.S. studies showing pet ownership is both physically and psychologically beneficial.

Whatever Thomas does spend annually, it?s easily well past the $377 Canadian households spend on average on pets, according to Statistic Canada?s 2005 survey. But only about half those responding even had pets, which boosts those households? average to $747, still likely under Thomas?s annual bill.

Kiwi?s nighttime sleeping arrangements ? a mat by Thomas?s bed ? is, however, plebeian compared to the handmade miniature four-posters at downtown?s High End Dog. The red Oriental bed with the Chinese symbol for dog on the headboard retails for $800, reports Clayton Ealey.

The extravagance doesn?t end there at the boutique Ealey opened last fall with his wife Gayle, a psychiatric nurse. There is a Swarovski crystal-studded leash for $1,300 and an Italian leather carrying bag with brass fittings for $750. The shop?s crystal-studded collars start at $135, while Reigning Cats & Dogs? beaded collars by the semi-nomadic Maasai in Kenya begin at $80.

The Sidney specialty shop owner Monica Mayes admits to wondering what the Maasai must think ?when making beaded collars for dogs.?

It?s probably not as foreign to them as Mayes might think. There are few cultures in which dogs are absent, according to Stanley Coren, the best-selling author of dog books, as well as a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia.

The relationship between man and dog goes back about 14,000 years compared to about 4,000 for cats, says University of Victoria anthropologist Susan Crockford, featured in next month?s PBS two-part series, Dogs That Changed the World.

Nor is lavish spending on pets a recent phenomenon, according to Coren. He cites the 18th-century Frederick the Great, who built a special wing in his castle just for his Italian greyhounds. The 19th-century poet Victor Hugo?s dogs wore silver collars inscribed with couplets, and Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O?Neill?s Dalmatian had a Hermes leather coat.

?If someone wants to spend a whack of cash on a dog. What?s the cost? So you use a second-generation cellphone for awhile,? says Cohen, who doesn?t indulge his own three dogs anywhere close to the same degree.

Some people do it for fun, he continues, citing comedian Joan Rivers who staged a ?bark-mitzvah? for Spike, her Yorkie. Hollywood has influenced the popularity of the pet as the well-dressed fashion accessory.

?You can?t go past a newsstand without seeing (some star) holding a dog,? Mayes says.

Thomas knows her indulgence might be seen as excessive, but it is not at the expense of her charitable giving.

?I don?t believe in being neurotic. I think there?s too much suffering in the world, ? she says.

What she spends on Kiwi is ?her pleasure,? justifying the expenditure the way a smoker or drinker ? of which she?s neither ? might their vice. Besides, Thomas is now more physically active because of Kiwi.

?Since I got her, I go out a lot more which I wouldn?t do if I didn?t have her,? Thomas says. By necessity, she now must take Kiwi for a walk several times daily.

Pet ownership prompts more than increased physical activity.

?Dogs are a wonderful companion. There?s lots of data that says owning a dog is health promoting,? Coren says.

A dog is a good social magnet, continues Coren. People are more likely to approach someone with a dog than they would be otherwise. Thomas finds herself often chatting to strangers lured by Kiwi.

Particularly other seniors living alone are envious that Thomas?s building allows small pets.

?If only I could have a little dog, I would be happy,? they tell her.

These revelations don?t surprise Crockford.

?People are more isolated and have fewer human relationships, so animal relationships are more important,? she says.

Dogs and cats have stopped being just pets, but become members of the family, according to veterinarian Shelley Breadner.

?It?s more acceptable to have pets and not have children.?

What?s hard to determine, for example, is how many singles are pet owners in the capital region. Only dogs are licensed here, according to Don Brown, CRD chief of bylaw enforcement. An estimated 36 per cent of households have licensed dogs.

Brown suspects there are far more cats than both licensed and unlicensed dogs combined.

Like Mayes, many of her customers are childless. Ealey refers to their geriatric Heinz 57s as the children the couple didn?t have. ?We never had kids so we spend our money on the dogs,? he says.

However, their difficulty in finding new and different dog toys and treats prompted them to open their shop after working in Alberta?s health-care system. Their business plan depends on stocking products unavailable at the big chain or independent pet stores.

?The high end part (of the industry) is particularly growing because of people like us,? says Ealey. Their best customers are 40-something single women.

Coren doesn?t buy the dog-as-the-child-substitute theory. What about single guys with dogs? Are they maternal, he asks.

Rather, he sees pet ownership as an antidote to increasing isolation, saying ?It makes a difference when you come home and there?s something there.?

The extended family as the traditional source of support and companionship no longer exists. To a degree, a pet compensates for its demise.

?It?s not a replacement for it, but a Band-Aid,? Coren concludes.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimesc...fc6107&k=58273
Attached Images
File Type: jpg VKA-THOMAS-02.jpg (9.4 KB, 454 views)
__________________
~~ Chewbacca's Mommy ~~
blackwidow is offline   Reply With Quote
Welcome Guest!
Not Registered?

Join today and remove this ad!

Old 03-20-2007, 09:20 PM   #2
I love my lil wolf! ;)
Donating Member
 
Catrina's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 2,434
Default

Lol what a cute lil story and her yorkie is gorgeous!
Catrina is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2007, 10:09 PM   #3
Inactive Account
 
Dan & Corinne's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 4,387
Default

The picture is adorable! I'm so glad Coren has a little friend to brighten her day and give her so much more opportunity to meet new people and to help her stay physically fit!

Great story!
Dan & Corinne is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2007, 12:22 PM   #4
Missing Yoshi Everyday!
Donating Member
 
xxmxaxrxyxx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 15,110
Blog Entries: 3
Default

lovely...just lovely!
__________________
Yoshi Mei Ling Ting Ting Ting Ki Sun Hye Yukio Kioshi
xxmxaxrxyxx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-27-2007, 10:36 PM   #5
BANNED FOR STEALING YORKIETALK CONTENT!
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Residenting in Wichita, Ks / Hometown in Arlington, Tx
Posts: 6,704
Default

i luv this story its very true too !! picture of the yorkie is beautiful !!
Mz_s3ski_Kitt3n is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-28-2007, 02:45 PM   #6
Donating YT 1000 Club Member
 
Cookie2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,568
Default

Loved the story and I think it's so true. I read this whole thing but I had to copy and paste this! I will show my husband when he gets home lol


"All this is money well spent, according to the Ontario Veterinary Association, which on its website documents U.S. studies showing pet ownership is both physically and psychologically beneficial."


Love it! Sometimes I take a break from buying Cookie too many things and then when I start finding adorable stuff again I go nuts! lol
My husband works 1 minute away from ThePamperedpup boutique in West Palm Beach ,FL and I just got a newsletter saying they had some new food in stock and I loved it because it was low protein and all human ingredients with all the vitamins our pups need. I asked my hubby just to get 3 cans to start with. That was like $6 total. He calls me on his way home and told me the total was $36 dollars. I was like what?! Did you buy a case? When he got home I see in the bag there was a new outfit for him,cans of food and some treats lol. My husband always makes fun of me for spending so much on Cookie but I always ,always remind him who paid $67 for a Sean John polo for Cookie!! ouch, just thinking about it.

Genie,
www.myspace.com/cookiefurbaby
Cookie2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks



Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




Google
 

SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2003 - 2018 YorkieTalk.com
Privacy Policy - Terms of Use

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167