Colección de problemas resueltos

Mary Marcus of New York City takes her dog, Pluto, everywhere: to the sushi restaurant down the street, to work, in and out of the neighborhood shops, even on the subway, which has a no-dog policy. "I wrap him up and take him in the last carriage,"confesses Marcus, a photographer. "We take him everywhere,and we don't even think it's inappropriate." Pluto is a vivacious 8-year-old, 11 Kg., French bulldog. Marcus says that Pluto often has easy access to places that are not particularly dog-friendly: "Everyone loves him because he's so funny. He's hilarious."

Not everyone is laughing. The world used to be divided into two groups: dog people and cat people. There was no common ground. Like smokers and non- smokers. But now it seems the canine world is dividing even further: dog lovers who want their pet to be part of every party, and those who don't want them around at all.

With this take-your-dog-everywhere trend growing as quickly as it seems to be, Marcus can't understand why the hotel industry doesn't offer pet and non-pet rooms like smoking and non-smoking rooms. At Loews Hotels, which has accepted dogs for four years, the reaction has been positive, with the pet business doubling every year, although it still remains a small market. "It's worked out well for us," says Emily Goldfischer, the manager of Loews, which began accepting four-legged friends after realizing pets were becoming more important to American families. "People are treating their pets differently than, say, even 10 years ago," she says. "They don't want to leave them at home."