Lavish pet care top dog in Japan

HOUNDED by weight problems, pampered pooches can now shed some weight at a special doggie spa.

The pudgy pets can burn off those excess calories by running on treadmills and taking long soaks in a therapeutic bath.

The service is just another in a growing line of products allowing the pet-loving Japanese to lavish their animals with the latest in luxury care.

Recently, a Shetland sheep dog named Disney panted gamely on a tiny treadmill made specially for animals before a long soak in a bubbling jacuzzi, its waters fragrant with a special concoction of tea tree and cypress oils combined with elements from a noted Japanese hot spring.

"Running alone doesn't yield weight loss results as fast," said Kensuke Hirakawa, the owner of the Ken 21 doggie spa, which is part of his pet health food store.

"It seemed to me there were a lot of overweight dogs around. I thought the combination of training on a treadmill and hot baths would be a really effective way for dogs to lose weight."

It is also an effective way for pet owners to part with 2,800 yen - about €21 a session.

Mr Hirakawa blames the rising number of corpulent Japanese canines both on over-indulgent owners and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

"Dogs in Japan live in such narrow houses they have no room to run, and leaving a dog tied up outside all day is now seen as animal abuse," he said.

Although pet owners worldwide seek only the best for their animals, high disposable incomes and demographics including, perhaps, the nation's falling birthrate have made Japanese pets particularly pampered.

A wide range of luxuries are now available for dogs, including aesthetic salons where beauty treatments include massages with mud from the Dead Sea.

There are also scores of internet sites selling deluxe, imported leashes and other essential goods for the well-heeled canine, such as silver food dishes engraved with the dog's name.

Industry observers say pets are particularly popular in Japan now because they help comfort owners stressed by the woes of a languishing economy and rising unemployment.

This is not limited only to animals such as dogs and cats. A number of Japanese are embracing more unusual pets reptiles, ferrets, and the latest fad, miniature pigs.