Life heads to dogs for a pamperer of pooches. (Weekly Briefing).

AMERICANS own nearly 70 million dogs, and caring for a big one costs around $1,000 per year. So the level of care available at a business like Tamar Geller's Loved Dog Co. should come as no surprise. Geller offers overnight boarding with sheets, blankets and a biscuit on the pillow There's at-home and on-premise behavior training, at-home dog sitting and walking and teeth cleaning. The former Israeli Air Force intelligence officer cum-dog whisperer was born in Tel Aviv and came to Los Angeles in 1988 while backpacking around the world. Her skills with dogs gained clients among regular dog owners and celebrities, including the Osbourne family, and seven years ago, she opened her own company.

"I was going to study to be a people shrink, but now I'm a dog shrink. It started when someone told a music celebrity about what I could do with dogs and I became a trainer by default.

"I just implemented what I learned from wolves. A dog is combination of a wolf and a 4 or 5-year-old child. Most people can relate to the child part, but can't relate to the wolf part, so they try to crush it. I try to find that magic point where the wolf part can have an outlet in appropriate behavior.

"Most dogs are bored out of their minds. At my business, the dogs can roam around and play, and interact together the way it comes naturally to them.

"Seven years ago, I got a warehouse space in West L.A. I financed everything myself. I really went out on a limb, but if you take money from people, you're not free to do it the way you want. I was sitting with huge overhead with only three dogs. I wanted to open another doggy day care center, but at one point I had 12 dogs at home at night with me, so I rented a second floor and doubled the square footage so I could make the kennel too.

"I struggled between making it a profit or non-profit business. I wanted to be able to have better salaries so I could have the top-level employees. I'm the only business I know of like this that gives health benefits. Now I have about 20 employees, most of them trainers.

"We also do community service like giving talks at inner city schools about finding careers where your passion is."