It's a dog's life for Paula McArthur but she would not have it any other way. Paula is the owner of Doggy Days, a creche for pooches, which looks after all breeds while their owners are at work. The dogs are dropped off in the morning and picked up at night. In between there are games, quiet times, lunch, training periods. . . everything you would expect in an ordinary creche. Paula refers to owners as mums and dads and deliberately runs the business in Cramlington, Northumberland, as if it were a creche for children. Her story is told in the first part of the new Tyne Tees series It's a Dog's Life about the world of pampered pets. Paula used to work for a finance company before spotting a gap in the market and opening up Doggy Days. She said: "I always wanted to be self-employed and when I got to the big four-o I really needed to take action because there was not much time to be doing something new. "A friend actually suggested setting up a creche for dogs and the more I thought about it the more I realised it was a good idea. "Now I have a purpose-built unit of 2000 square feet. It's based very much on a children's creche. "There's a toy box, a slide and a sand-pit for dogs that like to dig. "There is even an assessment class for puppies and regular reports for the mums and dads to tell them how their dogs are doing." Paula also offers confidence training for shy dogs and will take any breed from tiny Chihauhaus to huge Newfoundlands. She said: "There's a tiny Chihauhau called Tinkerbell who features in the programme. "We are doing confidence training with her because although she lives with another dog she is not very good when she meets other dogs in the street. "And there's Jasper, another dog in the programme, who is recovering from having discs removed from his neck." The programme reveals that looking after dogs is big business in the North as more owners splash out on treats and makeovers for man's best friend. Also featured is the Four Paws Hydrotherapy centre in Morpeth, Northumberland, which has become a life-saver for animals with health problems. Patients include Sophie, an English pointer, who developed an embolism in one of her legs. At one point it looked as if she would lose the use of the leg but, thanks to therapy at the dogs-only pool, she is walking again. The first programme in the series is rounded off by Caroline Howlett, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Caroline runs a pet nanny service who not only looks after dogs for the day but organises daily cuddles for her clients. She will take pets to the dentists and vets if their owners are too busy or too scared to make t heir own arrangements. V It's A Dog's Life can be seen today, Tyne Tees, at 6pm. | 
