Music for Dogs

The World Premiere of a unique concert experience on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, for you...and your dog!

Laurie Anderson has composed a 20 minute work especially for the hearing range of dogs – who can hear frequencies far outside the human audio spectrum. Taking the idea of the apparently inaudible dog whistle to new artistic heights, our canine friends will be treated to a glorious cacophony of sound, while all we will hear is the lapping of the water on the harbour.

The morning will be an inter-species social gathering on a scale never seen before in Australia. Breakfast can be purchased onsite including freshly brewed coffee and egg & bacon rolls, while you watch dog demonstrations and be surprised by some very special guests.

This is an event that you’ll be yapping about for years to come, an absolute must for any dog and their two legged friends!

[Source: Vivid Live]

New Airport Hotels Just For Fido and Fluffy

A growing number of airports are seeing 24-hour pet hotels being built inside or near their compounds, saving travelers the headache of scrambling to drop off their dogs or cats at neighborhood kennels. "Given that more people have pets, it's just a natural progression of services that airports should offer," says Saq Nadeem, founder of Paradise 4 Paws, which will open next month near Chicago O'Hare.

Airports and their private partners are betting that 24-hour service and proximity to the terminal are enough to entice customers away from neighborhood kennels, which often close early and open late. The flexible hours led Bruce Hamilton, a television anchorman in Jacksonville, to board his dog, Marley, at Pet Paradise, which is open 24 hours. "It's extremely convenient that you can pick up and drive there anytime," Hamilton says. "I don't have to bring my dog a day before." Paradise 4 Paws will even operate a long-term, 22-spot parking lot on-site, so that its customers can take the shuttle directly to the airport.

Daily rates for dog hotels can range widely — from $15 a night for a cage at the local veterinarian office to $70 for a large room with extra perks. Pet Paradise, which has two locations within a mile of the airports at Jacksonville and New Orleans and plans to open at Houston Intercontinental and Houston Hobby, charges $30 per night for its basic package. The rate includes a $2 premium, compared with its in-town locations, for the extra hours, says Fred Goldsmith, CEO of Pet Paradise.

Airport pet hotels typically offer more upscale amenities than the average kennel, such as beds, non-caged rooms with outdoor access, and in-ground swimming pools. Pet Paradise boasts a dog-bone-shaped swimming pool and webcams that let owners check on their pets remotely. Paradise 4 Paws plans to install flat-screen TVs in some suites that would play DVD footage of customers playing with their pets. Slumber parties are available for pets that don't want to be alone.

"The last time we went to go pick up Marley, he didn't want to leave the other dogs," Hamilton says.

[Source: USA Today]

Pet Luxury Hotel

So there are those of us who spoil our dogs rotten. My golden's a brat, and knows how to get what she wants from me. But the idea comes along every so often that we have to be seperated, and she has to be left in a kennel. Well, it seems one establishment is looking to change all that, Wag Hotels.



That's right, folks, a hotel that caters and pampers your dogs and cats. Until I found out about this hotel, I didn't even know that a dog could get a facial (though every so often I see one that could use it). There are locations in San Francisco and Sacramento, California for now with some intentions of spanning throughout the state. If it keeps up, don't be too surprised to see them start popping up around here.

I'm a bit jealous though. For those rates, you can't even get half that stuff at a human hotel. I think I need to reconsider things for my next life...