People Pets

Would You Dye Your Dog's Hair to Cover the Gray?

By Carol Vinzant

04/29/2009 at 07:45 AM EDT

Would You Dye Your Dog's Hair to Cover the Gray?

You know how it is: When you get to be 10 years old and your facial hair turns gray, all the young puppies at the dog run won't give you a second look. That, at least, seems to be the philosophy behind the Pet Esthe Color Restoration System. "Aging dogs regain youthfulness," a recent ad in an American grooming magazine proclaimed, showing a downcast graying dog transformed to a proud, yellow-coated stud.

It's unclear whom the coloring is supposed to make feel better: the dog or the owner. The company, Merry Do Beauty Products, creates high-end spa treatments for pets that include mud baths, aromatherapy, moisturizing cream for paw pads, bath salts and nail polish. "Pets cannot be rejuvenated without rejuvenating their coats," their Web site boasts.

A company spokesperson says they are still looking for a distributor for their products in the States. But while show dogs, with their elaborate hairstyles, seem a likely market for the color system, spokesman David Frei of the American Kennel Club says coat dying is strictly banned: "There's no changing appearance by artificial means, whether that's hair coloring or surgical."