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Using the Web to pamper your pooch

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

November 12, 2007

It¹s never fun when your departure flight¹s on a five-hour delay. The shouting heads on the airport TV may be enough to drive a person nuts, and heaven forbid your iPod runs out of juice. Now imagine the delirium your traveling pup¹s experiencing. No rubber toys, no fluffy pillows, no space to roam.

No worries.

Entrepreneurs Sherri Weiner and Ricki Noto want to come to your dog¹s rescue. A month ago, the friends launched Arfdog.com, an online boutique of luxury gifts for various occasions and themes, all for Fido everything from a customized $125 Sporty Gift Box that features goodies from your favorite team and matching canine jersey to a $150 Sleepover Suitcase (a Louis Vuitton look-a-like) with a plush terry robe, organic turkey-parmesan treats and a cushy ³Bark Street Journal² squeak toy.

The two partners have invested about $100,000 of their own savings to start the business. They hope to make a return by selling their pampering products in gift shops and high-end hotels, in addition to the e-commerce site. So far Arfdog has logged three sales, a good ³walking² start, Weiner says, that¹s sure to get running fast in good time. ³Our business is Web-based, so we¹re intending to cover the world with Arfdog.² In fact, one of their recent orders came from the Netherlands.

The hope for Arfdog, like many pet businesses today, is to feast on the current buying frenzy over pets. In the past 10 years, consumers have nearly doubled pet spending to more than $40 billion a year in the U.S., according to Packaged Facts, a research firm. ³The industry is absolutely exploding,² Weiner said. ³Now people incorporate their dogs into their lives.²

The boutique sprang from the two owners¹ skilled professional backgrounds Weiner has expertise in pet retailing and Noto runs her own manufacturing firm Total Solution Graphics, which helps package Arfdog¹s gift sets.

It goes without saying, too, that the pair loves dogs, particularly their own pooches. Weiner has a 7-year-old Portuguese Water dog named Polo. Ricki¹s is a 1-and-a-half- year-old Boxer named Sox. ³My dog has definitely changed my life,² Noto said. ³I used to be out and about, coming home at all hours. Since I got my dog I have to walk him, feed him, and be home for him. I bring him to work every day.²