Custom photoshoots, $800 dog collars: inside the luxurious lifestyles of pets

When Emma Ali brought home her Samoyed puppy, Lumi, in January, 2022, she instantly fell in love. “Lumi is my best friend,” Ali says. “She is my whole world. If I’ve had a difficult day at work or I’m stuck in traffic for two hours, Lumi doesn’t care. She’s just happy that I’m home with her.”

Eager to capture her relationship with Lumi, in early 2023 Ali hired pet photographer Hannah Davison for a one-hour photo shoot. The cost: $415. “I wanted memories that I could have for a lifetime,” says Ali.

Since then, Ali has booked four more shoots with Davison with different themes, like Halloween and Christmas. The shoots are Ali’s biggest splurges on Lumi, but she also spends on premium dog chow (Lumi has colitis and food allergies), which costs about $250 for a bag that lasts six weeks, compared to $50 for standard pet store kibble. She’s also splurged on a $100 handmade snuffle mat from Etsy – a fabric mat with loops and crannies where treats and kibble are hidden for a dog to sniff out as an enrichment activity.

With pet ownership increasing, especially over the pandemic – a Pet Valu survey estimates that three million pets were welcomed into homes from March, 2020, to November, 2021 – pet spending is on the rise too. A Bloomberg report from March, 2023, stated that global pet spending is estimated to grow to US$500-billion from US$320-billion by 2030, citing the “premiumization of food and services” as part of the growth.

Nandini Maharaj, a freelance writer and former therapist who studied the human-animal bond while earning a PhD in public health and counselling psychology from UBC, recognizes the unique relationship between pets and their owners. “People tend to see their pets as their family members,” Maharaj says.

As with Ali and Lumi, that interpretation of pet ownership often results in purchasing items or services to foster a stronger bond with a pet. “That financial investment is a reflection of the emotional investment that you have in a pet,” says Maharaj.

In her research, Maharaj found that child-free pet owners often treat their pets as their kids. “You’re channeling those resources, that love and dedication, to an animal instead of a human child,” she says. However, she states that people with kids also pamper their pets as much as their actual children. “Sometimes the dog or cat is their favourite child.”

Spoiling pets with gifts is also a way for owners to make themselves feel good. “You get that hit of dopamine associated with pleasure and motivation,” says Maharaj. And, unlike giving gifts to friends and family, there isn’t a feeling of reciprocation or obligation that comes with presents for pets. “Let’s say a coworker gets you a gift and you’re not a fan of theirs,” she says. “You feel obligated to reciprocate by giving them something. But with giving a gift to your pet, you can spend as much as you feel and you’re not doing that cost calculation of ‘how much did I spend?’ and ‘what does this mean?’”

Another way that the human-animal bond manifests itself in financial purchases is as an extension of one’s lifestyle. “When people see their pets as a reflection of themselves, if they go on luxury vacations or spend money on clothes or meals, they will look to make those same purchases for their pets to mirror their lifestyle,” Maharaj says.

For fashion-savvy folks, dressing up your pet in the latest accessories is a way to express your own style. In June, 2022, the French luxury fashion house Celine released a line of dog accessories, including leather calfskin collars with branded hardware ($850) and a lambskin dog bowl holder with the brand’s iconic Triomphe canvas print ($1,950). Outerwear company Moncler also has a dog-specific line with a monogrammed dog leash ($505) and a quilted nylon pet blanket ($810).

For Molly Neice, a combination of her interest in high fashion and her love for the micro bully dog breed led her to launch a luxury pet accessory line, called Devils & Diamonds, in April, 2024. Inspired by her travels to Italy, where she says owners take their dogs everywhere, including high-end restaurants and galas, she wanted to create functional accessories so that both her and her dogs could get dressed up for outings together.

Neice partnered with her friend, designer Lars Duelffer, and the duo worked with an Italian manufacturer to create a line of collars, harnesses and leashes out of materials such as Italian calfskin, Swarovski crystals and shearling. “There’s a craftsmanship that goes into it,” Neice says. “You’re buying an investment piece that is going to stay with the dog.”

Neice describes her target market of customers as “anybody that loves fashion and wants their dogs to be fashionable as well.” Her products range in price from $670 to $2,180. “We understand that it’s on the higher end. But I would rather spend money on my dogs than spend money on myself. They’re just everything to me.”

The sentiment echoes with Ali and the $2,000-plus she’s spent on professional photo shoots for Lumi. “It seems to other people like a luxury expense,” she says. “But to me, it’s memories with my best friend that will last forever.”