Time in the doghouse can be well spent

The Life: Luxury dog houses are the latest must-have accessories for pet-loving high net worth individuals.

Many companies are offering luxurious dog houses.

Getting sent to the doghouse is taking on new meaning.

Companies around the world are developing luxury doggie homes, allowing Fido the opportunity to live in style.

The German company Best Friend's Home features doghouses ranging from a modernist Bauhaus design to a Southern plantation, priced between €1,600 (Dh7,706) and €3,600.

"The generous Alabama [design] makes the dog the lord of the manor," the company promises. "Paying attention to the smallest details the invitingly southern-state house is based on its historical model."

This is hardly a new idea. But the concept seems to be hitting a new level, undeterred by economic downturns - or common sense.

A wide variety of companies offer luxurious doghouses that are more comfortable and better accessorised than many human homes.

Doowaggle offers doghouses in Victorian and Cape Cod styles that can be "painted, shingled, and landscaped just like your home, giving it yard appeal rather than curb appeal".

Another company, La Petite Maison, offers handcrafted doghouses that can reach $25,000 (Dh91,830), complete with air conditioning, custom lighting and hand-painted bricks.

Every Best Friend's Home's product is engraved with a serial number, so the dogs know they are lounging in a one-of-a-kind creation. Only the best materials are used, the company promises, including "premium varnished wood and break-proof window glass".

The modernist Cubix design offers "clear lines" and "puristic colours", as well as "lots of light and room for small and big dogs". The design creates the appearance of a free floating roof, a "special highlight", including a "built-in water drain on the roof and the cleaning lids at the back of the house".

The houses come unfurnished; it's up to the owners to accessorise to their personal tastes.

When London's Daily Mail wrote about the homes - titled "Barkingham Palaces" - the article provoked responses such as "obscene" and "frivolous"but another reader was more sympathetic: "No central heating. Poor dog."