Not being a dog-owner perhaps gives me a heightened awareness of the growing numbers all around me.
It seems dogs are everywhere: increasingly in pubs and restaurants, as well as on trains, parks and in the street. Most are cute and accustomed to being coddled by their adoring owners; not that I'm complaining.
Why, just the other day I was treated to the smell of a gassy explosion from someone's gorgeous pedigree spaniel in a rather posh Edinburgh gastro-pub. I have no idea if this was caused by it having scarfed a tasty slow-cooked locally-sourced organic morsel from its owner's plate, and frankly I didn't wait to find out.
Pet dogs are now a fact of modern life and we must, I suppose, get used to it. And it should come as no surprise that the commercial potential for upmarket dog food is being exploited to the maximum; so upmarket, in fact, that it could almost be deemed suitable for human consumption.
Most new dog-food producers eschew the supermarkets in favour of direct delivery. Take, for example, the Edinburgh start-up company Barking Rad which has just launched a monthly delivery box scheme of such treats as dog beer and doughnuts. (Dog beer is non-alcoholic, non-fizzy juice for dogs in chicken or beef flavour that can be added to a puppy's water or served on its own. Dog doughnuts are tiny natural biscuits decorated with dog-friendly icing and sprinkles.) Tails.com, a free home-delivery service, invites owners to key in their dog's details to they can formulate food tailored to its specific needs for each stage of its life, as advised by its own team of vets and nutritionists. They even have a "senior blend" for the elderly. The traditional "one size fits all" doggy diet is clearly no longer acceptable, at least for those owners who can afford it.
The line between food for humans and food for dogs is becoming ever more faint now that the artisan (human) biscuit company Biscuiteers, run by the husband-and-wife team who founded the London catering company Lettice, has strayed into dog snacks.
This week they launched a new collection for dogs as well as dog owners in aid of the Dogs Trust charity, with the dog versions - in flavours such as cheese and chive, sun-dried tomato, beetroot, mint and peanut butter - all hand-made, hand-iced and delivered direct to owners' doors.
But what really takes the biscuit is the range of full meals from Growling Tums, a new Scottish company that offers gourmet natural foods in flavours such as salmon and potato, chicken and rice, duck and potato - and, soon, salmon and asparagus among other amazing menus.
Such upscale dog diets mirror the modern (human) trend for personalised eating regimes and a growing demand for fresh, local, seasonal food. These, of course, are most easily found outwith supermarkets and corner cafes, and come at a price.
Pity, then, those less fortunate dogs whose owners are forced to rely on food banks just to stay alive. Clearly, the divide between the haves and the have-nots is a reality in the doggy world too.
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