LAPPING IT UP VALENCIA COMPANY MARKETING TO FURRY, 4-LEGGED FRIENDS.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Gracie only drinks from the toilet - little does the 5-year- old border collie know, it's bottled water that she's been lapping up from the porcelain bowl.

Dog lover Susan Goldberg was so irked by Gracie's nasty drinking habit that she started pouring purified water into her potty to protect the collie's health.

``Everything I do is revolved around my dog,'' Goldberg said.

Goldberg has taken her obsession one step further - she and business partner Don Magier have decided to offer all dogs a supplement to the usual slime lapped up from gutters, puddles and toilets with their new business, K9 Water Co., which sells bottled, vitamin-enriched water for dogs.

``This is an alternative to the vitamin supplements currently available on the market, which are pills, powders and concentrates. This is the only pre-mixed vitamin supplement,'' Goldberg said.

The K9 Vita Water comes in four flavors - chicken, beef, liver and lamb - and has names like Hose Water, Gutter Water, Puddle Water and Toilet Water.

``Those are the types of water that dogs like to drink,'' Magier said.

Touted as ``the world's first vitamin fortified bottled water specifically formulated'' for dogs, the water is sold in half-liter bottles and retails for about $2.95 a bottle.

And it's already being lapped up all over the country.

``We've been going through three or four bottles a day - I fully assume that we'll have to buy more of it,'' said Steve Westacott, owner of Animal Crossing in Wilsonville, Ore. ``I bought it as a lark, but it's been selling, so it is not a lark.''

And the chicken-flavor Toilet Water has hit the shelves in South Carolina, too.

``It's been doing really well - the Toilet Water is the funniest - it's similar to broth, but the dogs like it better,'' said Jillian Holliday at Doolittle's pet store in Charleston.

Magier, an executive at Valencia Entertainment, said several cases of the flavored water have already sold.

He and Goldberg opened booths at the Nutts for Mutts dog show in Woodland Hills and the Big Dog Parade and K9 Festival in Santa Barbara.

``Some dogs went from bowl to bowl to bowl to bowl, trying all the flavors,'' Goldberg said.

Goldberg had the idea for the water while she was with her dog-walking group, and she and her companions realized that there is no bottled water for dogs on the market.

Over the course of a year, and with the help of Magier, that idea developed into the flavored vitamin-enriched water.

``We're trying to get into all of the doggy boutique stores where people spend a lot of money on their dogs,'' said Magier, standing beside Snickers, his 2-year-old pit bull mix and one of the first to test the new product.

The water is fortified with vitamins A, B, C and E, and manganese and promises to help with dogs' coats and general health, according to Magier.

Andrea Fascetti, a nutrition professor at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said there is no conclusive evidence that dogs on normal diets need vitamin supplements.

``The question becomes, do dogs need extra vitamins? The answer is we don't know,'' Fascetti said. ``It could be helpful, but too much could be detrimental.

``Unfortunately, there's not a lot of research out there to show us where those lines are,'' Fascetti said.

According to Magier, anywhere from a bottle every other day to multiple bottles daily is safe for a dog, depending on its size. He serves his dog more than a bottle a day.

``The big part of this is to give dogs an easier way for vitamin intake,'' Magier said.

And if you're wondering, the water is safe for people to drink, too, but it's recommended for canines.

For more information about K9 Water, visit the company Web site at www.k9waterco.com.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in Business and SAC edition only) Valencia resident Don Magier gives some K9 Vita Water to his dog Snickers.

(2 -- color -- ran in Business and SAC edition only) The purified dog water manufactured by K9 Vita Water comes in four flavors: toilet water, hose water, gutter water and puddle water.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer