PUTTING ON THE DOG NOW, REALLY, DOESN'T EVERY POOCH NEED A TIARA OR TWO?

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

NEWBURY PARK - Lara Riedel is taking the fashion world by storm with $7.99 charms and $25.99 faux-pearl necklaces - for dogs.

In barely a year, she has turned a weekend project idea into a booming business by making zinc-alloy jewelry for the pet that has everything. She now supplies 400 retailers, and come next month will have her wares on sale at Harrods, the famed London department store.

``There's an epidemic going on,'' Riedel said in a recent interview, her voice straddling the line between mock horror and true concern.

``Most dogs only have onecollar in their wardrobe. Here we are in America, the richest country in the world. People have different outfits; why not dogs?''

Yes, dogs. Riedel has built Charming, a pet jewelry design firm, into an international player in the $20 billion pet supply business.

Using the connections of her movie producer husband, Guy (``The Hot Chick'' with Rob Schneider), she's gotten the charms onto the collars of famed Hollywood pooches like Bruiser of the ``Legally Blonde'' films and Eddie of TV's ``Frasier.''

This year, she projects, she'll sell $100,000 worth of charms, necklaces and pet accessories, both through her retail accounts and direct through her Web site, www.charmingpetcharms.com. That's quadruple her sales for the first year, and the business still operates from a 750-square-foot warehouse with only two employees.

``They snap right onto the collar for instant fashion success,'' she said, demonstrating the charms on her own dog, a bug-eyed French bulldog named Cow Dog. ``Because they were so popular, I kicked it up a bit and added rhinestones for special occasions.''

Riedel talks with an airy tone and claims to not possess business skills, but she's managed a quick ascent based solely on an idea formed with a few lumps of modeling clay from her local art store and tips gleaned from a class at The Learning Annex.

Though the idea seems odd - consumers paying for dog luxuries at a time when the economic picture remains murky - she's tapped into the same vein that's spawned organic dog treats, home clean-up services and day care services for dogs.

It's a little ridiculous, conceded Faith Mantooth, owner of Doggie Central, a Culver City boarding and day care facility that sells the charms - ``Unless you have money and your pets are your kids, and that's 75 percent of the dogs in L.A.

``That's how it is for me. I've always got money to spend on my 3-year-old (Labrador retriever), even if mommy's getting nothing. You wouldn't know there's a recession in here.''

Michelle McNamara, owner of the soon-to-open upscale pet shop Bow Wow in Woodland Hills, agreed. She stopped by Riedel's warehouse and bought $500 worth of charms and jewelry to stock her store.

``Pet lovers take care of their pets more than themselves,'' McNamara said. ``I sell $500 chaise lounge couches for pets that cost as much as you could get a real couch at IKEA for.''

Riedel started the business with $30,000, money she made back within a year, and reinvested all profits. Inexpensive manufacturing in China allows her to keep prices low, from $7.99 for a basic charm to $25.99 for a faux-pearls pet necklace, and she keeps down overhead by employing only herself and her former housekeeper, Marelli Santos, as a warehouse manager.

``People are making their pets more and more human,'' Riedel said. ``I had one woman buy 25 tiaras because she does doggie weddings. They have bakeries, gyms, spas, and they even have pet yoga, but I think that's going a bit far.''

But as pet expert Matthew Margolis knows, almost nothing goes too far in the pet care industry.

He follows it as host of the PBS program ``Woof! It's a Dog's Life,'' and says just basic care for a small dog starts at $800 per year, easily climbing into the thousands of dollars. Though the dog is the physical recipient, he says it's their owners who come off feeling best about the pampering.

``Why would a dog need jewelry? Does it know it's jewelry? No. Does it know if it's a diamond collar or a leather collar? No. It's for the people,'' said Margolis, known to his viewers as Uncle Matty.

``Nowhere in the wild do you see an animal dressed up. This is a people thing. You don't go to Yellowstone and see a wolf in a dress, but if it doesn't hurt them, it's OK.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Lara Riedel's French bulldog Cow Dog, above, models an assortment of accessories for dogs, including a coat, a collar charm and, of course, a tiara. Bruiser, canine star of ``Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,'' wears both a collar charm and a ``skort'' - a combination skirt and shorts.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Sam Emerson/Special to the Daily News

(3) Lara Riedel's doggie goodies will go on sale next month at London's venerable Harrods department store.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer