Pupperware parties

Pupperware party is a new twist on a Tupperware party that combines shopping at in-home parties and spoiling pets.

An entrepreneur named Andrew Shure founded Shure Pets in 2002 after seeing that people were treating their pets as family members and spending money on them accordingly. It's important for people with a passion for pets to sell directly to others, Shure says. His company boasts more than 1,200 consultants around the country, a number that's more than doubled since last year, he says.

A Pleasant Hill, Calif.-based company called Petlane shares that philosophy.

Lane Nemeth started Petlane in 2003. Petlane has 500 advisers across the country who sell holistic food, toys, books, grooming, health and safety products for dogs, cats and birds at what the company calls Pet Pawties. "Even if they don't buy a pet product from us, they walk away better parents," says Kimberley Coburn, Petlane's vice president of sales.