Apparently now you can buy bottled water for your dog. I discovered this quite by accident while I was searching for something else on the Internet.

The K9 Water Co. promises "the world's first flavored, vitamin-fortified bottled water specifically formulated to provide your dog with essential vitamins that contribute to overall good health and provide the hydration your dog needs."

Their water comes in four flavors: beef, chicken, liver and lamb.

They've apparently never met Glory, the black and white springer spaniel who lives at my house. She routinely drinks water from puddles, regardless of its vitamin fortification or meat flavoring.

I was certain that the K9 Water Co. was just a specialty business, something that dog owners might use once in a while for a special occasion, or even as a joke. Turns out that they are one of dozens of similar companies that offer bottled water for dogs listed online.

Regular readers of this weekly endeavor are fully aware that Glory is a spoiled little princess. I admit this openly and without shame. She sleeps in my bed. She lies next to me on the sofa while we watch TV. She gets the best medical care. She gets plenty of exercise and there's never a shortage of food and treats.

But there are at least a couple of reasons why I won't be buying bottled water for Glory.

First, I'm not really interested in giving Glory more luxuries than I have myself. I don't drink a lot of bottled water, so neither should she.

Second, I don't think Glory cares where her water comes from. In fact, I know she doesn't care. There is a better than even chance that, as I write this, she's upstairs in the bathroom drinking out of the toilet.

Having never done that myself, I don't know why dogs like to drink water from the toilet, but all of them do. I suspect the water must be cold. And to a dog, a porcelain toilet must look like the Taj Mahal of water bowls, certainly better than the plastic thing they drink out of on the kitchen floor.

Still, I shouldn't be surprised that some ingenious person came up with the idea of bottled water for dogs. My own reservations notwithstanding, there's certainly a market for it.

About two thirds of American homes have at least one pet, and we will spend $44 billion dollars on them this year alone. We feed them fancy foods. We take them to doggie day care. We hire personal walkers. We buy custom-made doggie clothes.

We spend so much on health care for our dogs that companies now offer pet insurance.

There are even pet cemeteries, where you can buy burial plots complete with headstones. (Here lies Max. We know he was bored, but he never should have chased that Ford.)

I've certainly done my share to spoil Glory over the years. And she's done a lot to repay me. She's always happy to see me when I get home, no matter where I've been or how long I've been there. She never talks back. And she's diligent about making sure I get to work on time, waking me up at daylight every morning whether I need to be awaken or not.

But I have to draw the line at doggy bottled water. And here's another reason why: A 24-pack of 16-ounce bottles costs $35. The same amount of human bottled water costs about five bucks. Who knew beef flavoring was so expensive?

Still, we mean no disrespect to the K9 Water Co. They've found a niche and good for them. Glory and I are dog and man enough to admit this, and we'll even lift a toast to their future success.

But we'll do it with water from the tap.

Mitch Clarke is executive editor of The Times. His column appears Sundays in The Times and on gainesvilletimes.com. Originally published on Nov. 16, 2008.