Tinklebell ,a Chihuahua-Pomera-nian mix, and Ginger, a teacup poodle, sit in a pram next to a baby while their owner and the baby's mother, 46-year-old Japanese eye surgeon Toshiko Horikoshi talk at a park in Tokyo August 19, 2007. Dogs now outnumber children aged 10 and under in Japan -- there were 13.1 million dogs in 2006. As the number of humans shrink, the dog population is growing, research firm Euromonitor said, and so is the market for dog-related products.

吉娃娃和博美犬的混血種「小叮噹」，和茶杯貴婦犬「金姊」坐在手推車裡，旁邊的娃娃車裡則坐著一個小貝比。狗狗的媽媽是46歲的日本眼科醫師堀越淑女，她8月19日正在東京一個公園和別人閒話家常。現在日本狗狗比十歲以下的孩子還多，去年日本共有1310萬隻狗，隨著人口減少，狗的數目卻越來越多，而據英國市調公司「歐洲監測」說，狗狗相關產品市場也越來越大。

For Horikoshi, sharing her life with dogs instead of babies is an active choice. She divorced her hus-band who had asked her to follow Japanese tradition and become a stay-at-home mum; she wanted to pursue her career. Her current partner has to accept that her dogs and her work are at the center of her life. Horikoshi is now at the top of her profession and likes to spend her money on travel, her black porsche and her dogs.

對崛越，和狗而不是貝比共度人生是她主動的選擇。她和丈夫離婚，因為他要求她遵循日本傳統，安分留在家裡做個好媽媽，但她想追尋她的事業。她目前的夥伴必須接受事實：她的狗和工作是她生命的重心。堀越目前事業如日中天，她把錢花在旅遊、黑色的保時捷和狗狗身上。

Her friends share her choice. "My friends-married, one poodle, no child. Married, two Chihuahuas, no child. Married, one Chihuahua, no child," she counts off her fingers. Dog par-ents often hold dog parties in dog cafes, dress their dogs in silk-and-cashmere dog sweaters, and take them to hot spring resorts and spas offering dog massages and aro-matherapy. After all, they don't have to pay college fees or a mortgage for a big house. Thus, they have moe spare cash for dogs.

堀越的朋友分享她的選擇。「我的朋友，已婚，一隻貴賓犬，沒有小孩。已婚，兩隻吉娃娃。已婚，一隻吉娃娃，沒有小孩，」她屈指一一算來。這些狗爸媽還常在狗餐廳舉行狗派對，為他們的狗狗穿上絲綢和開士米的狗運動衫，還帶牠們去溫泉勝地和spa，提供狗狗按摩和芳香療法。畢竟，他們不必付大學學費或豪宅貸款，所以才有閒錢養狗。