May 4, 1992

 

SOME IDEAS ON WHAT TO GET A JADED POOCH WHO HAS EVERYTHING

By CHIP JACOBS

Staff Reporter

 

Admittedly, the grinning busts of perestroika pals Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev probably aren't on the tony, "got-to-have" lists of the Smithsonian or Louvre museums.

And despair not if the 4-inch-high rubber likenesses, $5.99 a pop, don't get your Doberman or Republican buddies doing circus tricks. A new breed of pooch products is sweeping in, making Snausages look like yesterday's kibble.

Just peer around the squeaky, ex-cold-warrior toys displayed at Pasadena's Petco and you'll discover aisles of exotic dog gear guaranteed to get even the most discriminating poodle's notice.

Developed in America and produced largely abroad, the items are collectively ingenious, fatuous and in demand. But are they enough to supplant the Stupid Pet Tricks routine on "Late Night With David Letterman" skit?

Mull, for instance, the hickory-flavored cow "Choo Hooves" that are putting the rawhide industry in a funk. Unlike the conventional rawhide bones of yesteryear, these pungent cows' hooves can't swell up inside Spot's gut and cause stomach troubles.

"Right now they're real popular," said Lynn Sanchez, manager for one of Petco's competitors, the Pet Barn on Pasadena's Fair Oaks Avenue. "Personally, I think they are disgusting."

Quips Don Irving, manager of Petville USA in Mar Vista, "And from Chihuahua to Great Dane, they (the hooves) last longer."

But the rawhide makers aren't rolling over and playing dead in the face of the hooves invasion: They now shape the dried cow skins to resemble bagels, footballs, pretzels, loafers and sausages. Not satisfied with just that marketing slant, rawhide can now be had in multicolored "gourmet" packages with optional chicken and cheese flavoring.

That's just the beginning. Cough up a few greenbacks at Pet Barn or El Monte's Pet Jungle and you can replace your dog's fetish for hand-me-down socks with baked pig ears, swine not included.

Too revolting? Try these offerings:

* "Tuffy," a rubber chew toy, almost in the shape of a toilet plunger, so tough it could probably withstand an atomic blast, if not Sparky's grinding molars.

* "Easy Rider" car harness that straps your hound in place with enough slack so it can still stick its head out the window. If Spot favors the pool, you can snag a "Pet Preserver."

* "Fido Shock," a doggie "deterrent" run on conventional or solar power that would make Pavlov salivate. The electrically charged wire strung around a flower bed or garbage can gives your dog gets a jolt he'll not soon forget.

* Slip-on Easter ears, reindeer antlers to get your dog in the festive spirit, giant bow ties for those stately events.

* A line of 100 percent natural shampoos that leave your four-legged friend smelling like rosemary, sage, myrrh, or red clover instead of the backyard.

"If you go to the recent trade shows, you'll see there has been just an explosion of pet products," says Stever Netherby, editorial director for Mission Viejo-based Pet Product News. "The manufacturers seem to be getting more sophisticated all time, mainly because they are anthropomorphizing the items. . . . It's just like fishing lures: They're designed to catch the fisherman, not the fish."

That may be so, barks one local manufacturer, but what is good for the master is good for the pet -- and entrepreneurs. After all, when the big U.S. dog-food makers found religion in the late 1980s and began developing more health-conscious fare, the gimmick makers followed suit.

Today, as thousands of Southland pet stores attest, the nation's animal product business rings up revenues -- in individual people-years -- something in excess of $1 billion, perhaps 10 percent of that spent in California. That, in turn, has enticed pet-supply chains, like Petco and mega-retailers K mart and Wal-Mart, into the game, where they sniff out territory once dominated by the corner mom-and-pop stores.

According to those who market and sell the stuff, two things are working in their favor. For one, embedded yuppieism means the white-collar crowd is having kids later, leaving time to pamper animals -- whether their dogs, cats, iguanas or llamas. And with the economic downturn still in full bloom, people are spending less on travel or fancy cars and more on family needs.

Take Dogloo Inc. of Corona, originator of the igloo-shaped plastic dog houses that have sold "millions," according to company Service Manager John Burns. When engineers from the aerospace and toy industries teamed up in the 1980s, they pioneered a new shelter built with nitrogen insulation so energy efficient it keeps man's best friend warm in winter and shady in August's swelter.

"Sure, there are other people who have (dog) houses on the market," Burns crows, "but they don't approximate us."

Then there's Mike Grossman, owner of Westlake Village-based Pet Goods Manufacturing, which imports leashes, collars and stainless steel feeding dishes from Germany and the Orient for sale to giant retailers and mail-order catalogs. Conventional goodies aside, one of Grossman's hottest selling items is a 4-inch-thick, rectangular-shaped, insulated mattress for dogs and felines.

And he continues to get hit up by inventors hawking more newfangled paraphernalia.

"Yeah," Grossman relates, "I was even approached by some guy trying to sell me doggie sunglasses with a special nose guard."

So what do cost-wary consumers think of this stuff?

Arcadia resident Karen Seaman, for one, gobbles it up, as does her poodle Tigger.

"My dog loves the cow hooves, I mean he absolutely adores them," says Seaman, who bought Tigger from an animal shelter when her husband left her and her children moved out. "Now the Reagan head, that's stupid. . . . But I'll spend any amount to get my animal's affection. I even made a rain coat for Tigger."

copyright Los Angeles Business Journal

Money Train, published in Los Angeles City Beat. Why would U.S. Congressman Ernest Istook from Oklahoma come to Los Angeles to raise money? Perhaps because he holds the purse strings to critical federal transportation dollars.
March 10, 2005

MOVING DOWN THE ROAD, Pasadena Weekly
http://chipjacobs.com/a_movingdown.html
Moving Down the Road, published in the Pasadena Weekly. The Caltrans 700,000 square-foot tower owes its existence to the 1994 Northridge earthquake, union muscle, and a tincture of politics.
July 10, 2003

TUNNEL VISIONS, Pasadena Weekly, Caltrans Tenants Association
http://www.caltranstenants.com/tunnel.html
Tunnel Visions, published in Pasadena Weekly. Caltrans may dig deep to find a way out of its 710 Freeway debacle.
(Part III of Corridor of Shame series)
May 22, 2003

THE UNTOUCHABLES, Pasadena Weekly, Caltrans Tenants Association
http://www.caltranstenants.com/slumlord.html
The Untouchables, published in Pasadena Weekly. Slumlord Caltrans uses legal immunity to hold tenants and the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and South Pasadena at bay, as long-needed repairs to homes the agency owns along the proposed 710 Freeway route fester. (Part II of Corridor of Shame series)
May 15, 2003

NO EXIT, Pasadena Weekly
http://chipjacobs.com/a_noexit.html
No Exit, published in Pasadena Weekly. Once stately properties that Caltrans bought 30 years ago to complete the still unfinished Long Beach 710 Freeway stand as a testament of neglect by one of the most powerful agencies in California. (Part I of Corridor of Shame series)
May 8, 2003

SOME MTA DRIVERS GET PHYSICAL, Daily News of Los Angeles
http://chipjacobs.com/a_mtadriversphys.html
Some MTA Drivers Get Physical, published in Daily News Los Angeles. Attacks on Metropolitan Transportation Agency riders not always punished and nearly 20 cases remain unsolved or lost due to poor record keeping.
June 24, 1996

SUBWAY TUNNEL WALLS AT RISK, REPORT WARNS, Daily News of Los Angeles
http://chipjacobs.com/pdfs/subwaytunnelwallsatrsk1.pdf
Subway Tunnel Walls at Risk, Report Warns, published in Daily News Los Angeles. Just three years after the first segment of the Metro Red Line was opened at a cost of $1.45 billion, the Army Corps of Engineers says the subway’s concrete walls are at risk of being eaten away by chemical-laced ground water.  MTA officials say water-damage threat small. 
April 11, 1996

MTA SPENT BIG TO SUGARCOAT TUNNELING, Daily News of Los Angeles
http://chipjacobs.com/pdfs/mtaspentbig1.pdf
MTA Spent Big to Sugarcoat Tunneling, published in Daily News Los Angeles. During the 1994 holiday season, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency spent about $400,000 in public funds to bring a Yule-tide bonanza to Hollywood boulevard. Opponents say humbug to mitigation efforts, labeling it as pork barrel or misguided.
September 24, 1995

HOMES OWNED BY CALTRANS NOT KEPT UP, RECORDS SHOW, The Los Angeles Times
http://chipjacobs.com/a_homesowned.html
Homes Owned by CalTrans Not Kept Up, Records Show, published in The Los Angeles Times. Dozens of homes the state acquired along the un-built Long Beach (710) Freeway pathway sit in such disrepair they either can’t be leased or whip up renters’ complaints about slumlord practices. Twenty-seven homes still part of the holdings are not even needed to construct the long-delayed project. Caltrans defends maintenance.
April 26, 1995

CALTRANS MISSED SAFETY DEADLINE, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
http://chipjacobs.com/pdfs/caltransmissed1.pdf
CalTrans Missed Safety Deadline, published in  the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Despite a legally etched state deadline, Caltrans missed a key deadline to strengthen more than 1000 freeway bridges, including most of the structures crippled in the Northridge earthquake. Bridge contracts overdue.
February 4, 1994

PROBLEMS PILE UP ALONG METRO LINE, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
http://chipjacobs.com/pdfs/problemspileupmetro1.pdf
Problems Pile up Along Metro Line, published in San Gabriel Valley Tribune. First came the charges of shoddy construction. Then the claims of massive cost overruns.  Now more troubles are brewing for Los Angeles’ new subway:  wage violations against workers actually building the Metro Red Line.
October 16, 1993

FREEWAY WORK: A PERILOUS PAYCHECK, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
http://chipjacobs.com/pdfs/freewayworkperilouspaycheck1.pdf
Freeway Work: A Perilous Paycheck, published in San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Caltrans workers face death everyday and Caltrans needs to further protect its exposed maintenance crew.
Sept. 4, 1993

TRANSIT COMMISSION AUDITORS CAST EAGLE EYE ON TUTOR’S COSTS, Los Angeles Business Journal
http://chipjacobs.com/a_transit.html
Transit commission Auditors Cast Eagle Eye on Tutor’s Costs, published in Los Angeles Business Journal. Los Angeles County Transportation Commission auditors are questioning tens of thousands of dollars in overhead expenses that powerhouse Metro Rail contractor Tutor-Saliba Corp. submitted two years ago, according to a preliminary audit obtained by the Business Journal.
September 28, 1992

METRO RAIL COST-OVERRUN TAB ADDS TO CITY HALL FISCAL WOES, Los Angeles Business Journal
http://chipjacobs.com/a_metrorail.htm
Metro Rail Cost-Overrun Tab adds to the City Hall Fiscal Woes, published in Los Angeles Business Journal. The City of Los Angeles is on the hook to pay $100 million in Metro Rail Red Line construction overruns under a little-known cost-sharing deal with the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.
March 16, 1992

Title: The man
URL: http://www.chipjacobs.com/wd_theman.html

Almost broke, living on handouts with his mom in a shabby apartment outside post-war Los Angeles, Gordon Zahler, a paralyzed kid in his mid-twenties got an idea. He'd re-sell the music of a dead man -- the music his father, Lee Zahler, composed during his workhorse career in early Hollywood. Within a few years, mother and son would be working for MGM on a Doris-Day romp and for Hollywood's most beloved hack, Ed Wood Jr., on Plan Nine from Outer Space. A decade later they had a house above the Sunset Strip in a comeback story too farfetched for any screenplay.