A recent TV ad for a major brewing company showed a well trained dog opening the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of the sponsor’s brew and faithfully delivering it to the TV cliché, football-watching, beer guys.A Napa Valley, California couple named Jamie and Kevin Miller took this concept one step farther. They noticed how much their dog Kodi enjoyed lapping up a spilled glass of suds at a campout and concocted up a doggie beer on their home stove. It was such a hit with friends, they decided to take it to market.

The couple found a local brewer in Indian Wells, California, and after experimenting with various canine pleasing formulas, without alcohol, hops or carbonation-all bad for dogs-Happy Tail Ale was coming off the line alongside more traditional people brew.

Happy Tail Ale has been selling to pet owners in California ever since, and, if Larry and Ricki Smart have anything to say about it, it will soon be available to the discerning palates of Georgia’s family pooches.

Larry and Ricki have always had dogs and cats as part of their extended families at their sprawling home on 4 acres of farmland in rural Cherry Log, Georgia.They often traveled into Blue Ridge, a short ten minutes away, and one of their regular shopping stops was a small pet boutique, Love Dogs (&Cats Too).The shop, at one end of the picturesque main street, is one of many retail stores that cater to the influx of upscale, second-home residents that pour into the area on weekends and for extended vacations.Many, if not most, of these vacationers have pets they often take along and the pet store has thrived as a result.

Love Dogs (& Cats Too) sports a large, colorful logo sign on the facade of a two-story building. Inside, the wide planked, polished original pine floor, along with the original brick walls, creates a relaxed atmosphere, almost a throwback to an earlier time.Spread out everywhere is a mixture of products with one common theme, an appeal to dog and cat lovers.

One day, the Smarts… both semi-retired business professionals… in the store to buy their usual food and dog treats, found out from the owners that they were interested in selling the place.The Smarts were intrigued and as they did their analysis, they discovered that the business was making a profit even though the store was only open weekends.

They were also surprised by the size of the market. In fact pet lovers spend some $35 billion a year on satisfying the needs of their fussy friends while often buying pet related products for themselves as well.Recognizing this, the store not only provided ‘health foods’ for animals, but also a host of other items, ranging from canine life preserver float coats, to pet themed owner tee shirts in a variety of colors, to original dog or cat theme oil paintings and framed prints.The paintings adorn the brick walls wall of the upstairs part of the two-story establishment, turning the room into a soft lit, specialized art gallery for patrons seeking to emphasize their love for their animals.

“We jumped in” said Larry, a former corporate executive of several large corporations in Atlanta and now doing business development consulting for smaller companies. “Our analysis showed a rare opportunity, a profitable company being sold at a reasonable price.” The previous owners had day jobs as well and the store was consuming their leisure time.

Ricki, also a business professional, had tired of being house bound. The store was close by and offered a ready opportunity to get back into the business world.“We were located here,” she said, “and I had been looking for a way to rejoin the professional community.Our love of animals clinched the deal. I became the proprietor,” she said laughing” and Larry became the CFO, chief handyman, and go-to errand guy. Our ten-year old Labrador, Oliver, even gets into the act as our official greeter.”

The couple expanded the store hours and both were surprised by the store traffic on the weekdays. Apparently many weekenders extended their stays. Some retired to the area and shopped on the weekdays to avoid the crowds.“I was surprised by the items pet lovers were willing to buy,” Ricki observed. “You would think our best selling items would be foods, treats, collars and the like.Although these items are big sellers, so are tee shirts with animal oriented sayings and our paintings which can sell for as much as $400 depending on the artist’s reputation.”

The business was confusing at first, the couple relates, because of the steep learning curve concerning pet related issues. “We had a lot to learn,” Larry told us. “For instance, most commercial dog foods are made cheaply and sold with mass advertising.” He paused thoughtfully.“Our food is made specifically for the pet owner looking for healthy food made with ‘human grade’ ingredients and containing no harmful additives. A true pet lover appreciates the difference.”

“We are constantly looking for new, innovative products that catch a pet owner’s fancy,” Ricki says. “That’s why we just love the concept of beer made for dogs. What a great idea.”

Larry heard about the beer through his extensive network of friends and business associates.He immediately called the innovators in California and a case was on its way. “Our dogs loved it,” he told us, “but we will still test market the product locally. We’re talking to the developers about a potential distributorship when they expand.”

Happy Tale Ale looks like ordinary beer in a dark brown, twelve ounce bottle with a twist off cap.Flip off the cap and it foams into Fido’s container of choice to be appreciatively lapped up.Although it is non-alcoholic, it is brewed similarly to beer to give it the texture and color-ization of real beer without the carbonation.Anyone who idly pops one mistaking it for a normal quaff will read the label more carefully after taking a swig.The brew has beef drippings, malted barley, Glucosomine and Vitamin E… ingredients not especially suited to the human palate.

“This product shows how much the pet market has changed,” Larry says. “Throwing Rover a bone is out in favor of pets being treated as one of the family. The more disposable income you have, the more you are willing to indulge the non-human members of the family. We’re already seeing designer pet clothes, designer pet backpacks and sunglasses made just for dogs.”

And doggy beer? Time will tell whether this innovative product idea has created a successful niche market.At this point, however, at least the sports guys with the beer fetching dog in that TV ad can say what they couldn’t before Happy Tail Ale.“Get us some beers, Spot, and have one yourself while you’re at it.”