We here at Mutts, as our name implies, don't believe in spoiling and over-pampering pets.

(Well, half of us don't, anyway. Ace is all for it.)

For one thing, once you start, the pet tends to get used to it and expects it all the time. After two days of steak leftovers, for example, note how your dog, when you present him with the standard dried kibble, will sniff it, turn and give you look that says, "Are you serious?"

For another, providing them with Oscar-inspired fashions, overpriced playthings, jeweled collars, leashes and other accessories, is only bringing them a step closer to being human.

And that's the last thing we should want.

Yet there's a huge interest in, and market for, luxury pet items, and a lot of people are into them, and who are we to judge?

So today we announce a new "category" -- Pupscale Products. (To see our other categories, check the rail to the right of this page.) Frequent readers know we don't care much for sticking things in neat little "categories," but, when it comes to a blog, it's an excellent way to bring some organization to the giant unruly buffet we serve up here.

Today, we present a dog food bowl that costs more than some dogs. It's the latest from a company named, appropriately enough, Snooty Pets, located in, appropriately enough, Las Vegas.

Among its products: An $18 bag of breath freshening dog treats, a stuffed automobile chew toy called the "Furcedes," and a squeaking pink "Kate Spayed" handbag toy.

This weekend the company will unveil its new line of marble and onyx dog bowls at the Luxury Pet Pavilion Trade show at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles.

Each bowl, the company says, is "exquisitely hand carved and polished to a smooth and seamless finish by highly skilled artists" and the stone range includes rich and warm colors of rare pink and blue, along with ruby, white, honey, green and travertine.

The company promises a “distinctive dining experience,” says Kevin Thomas, vice president of Snooty Pets. "Because marble is the caviar of natural stone what better way to convey exclusivity and glamour."

Awesome! Let's do lunch. Somewhere exclusive. Chow for now.

(Photo courtesy of PRweb, snootypets.com)