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The creative arts—photography, painting, writing, and editing—offer a wide scope of opportunities for dog lovers. If you have a creative skill and would like to use it in a career with dogs, consider a career as a dog-show photographer, a pet portrait photographer or painter, a dog magazine editor, or a freelance writer.

In the fields of writing, editing, photography, and art, employment is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2018. The increasing specialization of magazines, as well as the growth of online publications and business Web sites and newsletters, means that writers, editors, and photographers have many more outlets for their work. Unfortunately, the increase in digital media is affecting the amount of money these professionals can make—and not in a good way. Print media salaries are decreasing because of the upsurge in digital media, and the new jobs in digital publications pay less than those in print media. In addition, although creative fields offer many opportunities, they’re also highly competitive.

Craft artists and fine artists work primarily on commission and may require some other source of income to pay their bills, at least until their talents are recognized and they develop a regular clientele. Art directors may find employment not only at pet magazines but also at pet-related companies, in advertising or public relations.

Many people want to work in fashion design, and some want to specialize in creating clothing and accessories that either feature dogs or are for dogs. The best opportunities for these people may be as entrepreneurs, selling their creations to apparel and pet-product wholesale firms. Haute couture for pets is popular and gets lots of press when worn by the dogs of celebrities, but stylish and affordable designs that appeal to middle-income consumers will be most in demand.

If you’ve ever been to a dog show, especially a prestigious one such as the Westminster Kennel Club show, you’ve seen the trove of jewelry sold by vendors there: gold, silver, and bejeweled necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, and cufflinks—all in the forms of different dog breeds. People who love their purebred dogs also love to wear jewelry fashioned in the breed’s image. A jeweler who can create such designs will have a readymade clientele. Jewelers who specialize in this type of work are usually entrepreneurs who sell their wares at dog shows or through catalogs or on Web sites.

EVENT PLANNING

Event planners or public relations managers may be involved in special events, such as the sponsorship of dog shows, parties to introduce new products, or other pet-related promotions. Tie-ins with special events help pet-industry companies gain public attention without advertising directly. Competition is keen for these jobs, but employment in the fields of advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations, and sales management is expected to increase by 16 percent through 2018.

Jewelry for dogs themselves, primarily charms that can be worn on collars, is becoming popular as well, creating another market for designers in this field. Thanks to the rise in nontraditional jewelry marketers—discount stores, mail-order and catalog companies, television shopping networks, and Internet retailers—as well as increasing numbers of affluent people (including working women who like to buy their own baubles and people age forty-five and older), jewelry sales are expected to remain strong in the recovering economy.