This story made me smile because there are some nice aspects to it but also some slightly worrying ones. It follows a recent article I wrote about research from China which indicated that people who own cats and dogs spend more money because their companion animal enhances their well-being. They feel good and when one feels good you like to perpetuate that euphoric state of affairs and seek some retail therapy. That’s my conclusion.
Another conclusion would be that you spend more money on your cat and dog. 💕🤣 This is an excellent example of how you could do that because this dog pawfume costs a princely £84 in the UK but it does come with a free leather dog collar! Not free. 😱
My immediate thought was: dogs have great noses. They sniff other dogs. They smell everything to identify it; to learn about it. Their noses are their eyes or as useful as their eyes. If you spray a dog with pawfume you mask their natural scent. It seems to me that that might interfere with a dog’s natural behaviour. They might no longer like the way they smell. They might try and lick it off to reinstate their natural body odour.
I don’t know but we all know that dogs have supersensitive noses and their world revolves around what they smell. If they are followed around by a cloud of sweet smelling perfume emanating from their own bodies, it might be slightly disturbing for them.
Having got that technical and I would say critical point out of the way let’s have a quick look at this Italian pawfume. The newspapers say that Dolce & Gabanna has identified a new market: dogs. Yes, we do know that people like to spend money on their dogs and cats. So this is a good idea if you are in the business of selling perfume.
The pawfume is called Fefé. It was developed by the company’s master perfumier Emilie Bevierre-Coppermann. It’s the first time a big fashion brand has diversified into dog perfume.
It’s a blend of ylang-ylang and sandalwood named after Domenico Dolce’s dog. It is described as an “olfactory masterpiece”.
A veterinarian dismissed the idea as a waste of money! I would tend to agree. Their name is Fabian Rivers, a welfare ambassador for the RSPCA. Most dog toiletries are lowbrow products costing less than £15. This is a different kettle of fish.
They said: “The fact that they’re coming onto this market at such a high price is an interesting way of having people spend their money on things that have very little merit. But it’s your choice on how to spend your money.”
They warned that dog owners might use the pawfume to mask their dog’s unpleasant smell. This might work against a dog’s health because an unpleasant smell might be a consequence of ill health. Rather than mask the smell the caregiver should take their dog to a vet.
He believes that despite the pawfume, a dog should be able to sniff a dog carrying the pawfume and still recognise the dog. That is an issue though. If two dogs live together and one is covered in this pawfume, will the other dog still recognise his friend? Dogs identify animals through their body odour as well as visually.
The vet believes that the smells might be distracting or unpleasant. Certainly, perfume is nowhere near the smell of body odour. A lot of humans use perfume to mask their own body odour which is a bit sad really.
The perfume is clearly designed for a wealthier demographic to allow them to have more choice to spend their money. This points to the disparity in wealth in society with people struggling at the bottom end and wealthy people spending their money on dog perfume.
Fefé comes in 100 mL bottles. Dolce & Gabanna say that their dog fragrance “draws its inspiration from the unwavering love for Dolce’s loyal companion, Fefé”. And it is “crafted for a playful beauty routine”.
Fefé is a miniature poodle adopted by Stefano Gabbana. He found that the poodle didn’t get along with this cat so he passed the puppy onto his partner and the business who were “immediately bewitched”. It was love at first sight. The puppy is named after an old Italian comedy film.
RELATED: Turkey’s stray dogs face life or death in shelters under controversial new laws – a story at the end of the spectrum.
