An hour of reiki therapy. A multi-course raw-food brunch. A private movie screening in a mobile theater. No, this isn’t the average Sunday of a well-off tech founder — it’s the agenda of San Francisco’s most pampered dogs, thanks to a slew of services cropping up from entrepreneurs and pet lovers.
With its glut of dog-friendly parks, apartment pet perks, and high-tech members-only veterinary clinics, the Bay Area is a good place to be a canine. Dozens of local entrepreneurs have built businesses in recent years around the idea that dogs are entitled to the same creature comforts as people.
Tammy Young, a veterinary technician and owner of Tranquil Tails, a bodywork service, travels around the Bay Area to help dogs control pain and alleviate anxiety. Her massage or reiki energy healing sessions range in price from $60 to $95 and generally start with a gait assessment to figure out which parts of a pup’s body need special attention.
“I’ve been into high-profile homes in the city, and I’ve been into very modest homes where people are clearly working very hard to get by, but they’re making sure they’re taking good care of their pet,” she said.
She has provided massages to everything from pint-size Chihuahuas to Great Danes (and once, both in the same home, which had her switching between employing just her fingertips to using her whole body for the massage).
While Young’s customers want to help their dogs relax, others seek services to hype up their hounds. Golden Gate Dog Sports, an agility training facility in the Bayview, teaches pups to sprint through tunnels, weave between poles, and leap over obstacles, offering canines the physical and mental workout of, say, a CrossFit membership.
While some students wield their newfound skills to compete, most take the courses — which run four to six weeks and cost between $250 and $350 — simply for recreation.
“There are a lot of people around the city looking for something to do with their dogs other than going to the beach or playing Frisbee,” said co-owner Ashley Deacon, who trains his border collie, Neve, at GGDS. “This creates a deeper connection with your dog, which I think is what draws people in and appeals to them.”
For couch-potato canines, there is Chill Theaters, a mobile cinema that’s rentable around the Bay Area. Balaji Krishnan started the company last year because he craved a movie-theater experience where his 10-year-old Maltese, Dabby, could nestle on his lap.
“I felt that there was a compelling proposition where you can watch something on a big screen, with the added happiness of having your dog with you,” he said.
The palate-driven pooch
In addition to compelling leisure options, San Francisco has a slobber-worthy dining scene for dogs that includes multi-course meals and Instagram-worthy treats.
Luxury cafe Dogue sells fresh food, including wild antelope meat and pork vitamin water, and serves a three-course tasting menu on Sundays. The palette of the owner’s dog — a mastiff named Grizzly — inspired both the raw food offerings and “pawtisserie” treats, which the Mission store ships around the country.
“Fresh food was previously a more niche way of feeding our pets, but it’s becoming more popular now — rightfully so,” said owner Rahmi Massarweh, citing the health benefits over kibble or other processed meals.
Dogue’s nearly decade-old business is “not going anywhere,” Massarweh said, adding that the challenges of running a brick-and-mortar outlet in San Francisco are offset by the joys of his job: “It’s kind of hard to have a bad day when you have these smiling faces and wagging tails around you.”
Similarly, Olia Rosenblatt, founder of Mishka, gushes that running her boutique, which serves brightly colored meat cakes and slow-cooked bone broth in sake bottles, has filled her “heart with appreciation and love.”
Dogs and their people adore Mishka, she said: Runaway pups have darted into the shop nearly a dozen times (her staff calls the owners to collect them), while one human couple that met there ended up married. Roughly 80% of buyers are repeat customers, Rosenblatt said, and she has made several close friends through her shop and its lounge, which pet owners rent for $400 to throw “bark mitzvahs” or “Gotcha Day” adoption anniversary parties.
“Dogs today are not pets anymore — they’re members of the family,” she said. “I’m really glad that, more and more, they’re being treated that way.”
Mishka expanded to the Ferry Building in 2022, and Rosenblatt plans to launch nationwide shipping, with the ultimate goal of opening a “stressless spa and daycare” for dogs.
While she and Massarweh focus on feeding four-legged friends full-time, Pegah Shahmirzadi recently spun up a side hustle based on the treats she created for her golden retriever, Zazu. This year, she started selling elaborate, customizable barkuterie boards that include fresh fruits and veggies, dried meat, and cookies.
She has sold her creations at fairs and events, as well as online, and attributes her budding success to the fact that health-conscious Bay Area residents want to pamper their pups with the kinds of nutritious treats they love themselves. “It comes down to equity,” she said. “All dogs deserve to eat good food.”
Picture-perfect working dogs
The shifting understanding of our relationships with dogs has also spawned several businesses.
Pet-friendly facility The Hub opened in June in the East Bay to give remote employees a dedicated place to work while building community and new skills with their dogs.
“We wanted to give dog guardians a space to come together to improve the well-being of both the dog and the human simultaneously,” said co-founder Andrea Bazett. (The club uses the phrase “dog guardian” in lieu of the “one-sidedness” of “dog owner.”)
The Hub offers $100 monthly memberships, which includes access to the space and group classes and events. Early demand is strong, and membership has been “growing at a really good rate,” Bazett said.
One surprise has been how the club’s human members have bonded: “It’s a judgment-free safe space to discuss what they’re going through as it relates to their dog, and then what they’re going through even beyond that.”
The role of a dog in facilitating life transitions is one that Ellen Shershow knows well, from personal experience and in her role as a fine-art photographer for pets. She credits her late Chihuahua mix Eloise with helping her heal when it felt like life was “falling apart” and has heard similar tales from clients.
“Before people come in, we have a phone call where I learn about their dog, and the stories that people tell are amazing,” she said. “Almost everybody cries at some point in our process.”
During photo sessions in her Oakland studio, she plays music composed by a dog neurologist and provides treats, toys, or love to help pets feel comfortable and show off their “spirit and personality” in front of the camera. She has even perfected her own bark, which can energize her subjects.
After each one-hour session, she picks the top photos and displays them in a screening room, complete with popcorn, to help people decide on anything from giant triptychs to elegant coffee-table books. Shershow has all her prints produced in Italy, because she’s “freakishly picky” about the quality.
Her business has boomed in the past five years thanks in part to word of mouth, she said, and she gets clients from all walks of life.
“I’ve had people in here who spent $1,600, and that’s a stretch for them, and I’ve had people who literally spent $30,000, and if it’s a stretch, they don’t show it,” she said.
Anne Marie Presutti, general manager at Hotel Nikko, says the tempering effect of dogs can be physical. “It’s fascinating to me, the number of people who see a dog, and their shoulders drop six inches, and they just breathe differently,” she said with a laugh. Her pups, Bo and Buster, have become the hotel’s mascots and can be booked to pay a visit to guests’ rooms or bust into corporate meetings as a break-time surprise.
The hotel’s pet-friendly package provides beds, bowls, and toys, as well as an outdoor dog run with gorgeous views and specially constructed props, like doghouses in the shape of a cable car or the Painted Ladies.
Presutti, who is also interim CEO at SF Travel, appreciates how the city treats beloved pets.
“San Francisco as a city is just so friendly for dogs,” she said. “There are so many options of places you can bring them where they’ll be welcomed with open arms. We want you and your pet.”