Emma, a teacup poodle, models the latest fashion from Emma Rose Design, the dog clothing firm. It's an all-satin party dress for those special occasions.

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Affairs of the heart usually don't mix with business.

But there are always exceptions, especially when the object of one's affection is a pet.

Five years ago, retail executive Lynne Wieder of Newport, R.I., had no idea she would be making her living designing and marketing sweaters for dogs.

Nor did Carol Blanchette and her daughter Sherry Raposa, both homemakers in Tiverton, R.I., have a clue they would end up in the canine clothing business.

But that was before each of them got a new puppy.

Today Wieder is president and chief executive officer of Mhound, a one-woman clothing company that translates the urbane style of J Crew into suitable outdoor wear for man's best friend.

Blanchette and Raposa have established Emma Rose Design, a high-end clothing label that runs the gamut from everyday togs to formal wear — all for pooches.

Both Mhound and Emma Rose Design exhibited last fall at the first-ever New York Pet Fashion Week, the brainchild of Rhode Islanders Mario DiFante and Alexa Cach.

With about 150 exhibitors and about 1,500 buyers for retail outlets in the United States and abroad, the trade show made a splash in the media, not only in the United States but around the world.

Emma Rose Design grabbed headlines on the fashion runway with a $5,500 doggie wedding dress and its 10-foot train.

The dress, along with a one-of-a-kind $250,000 diamond dog collar made by a Pittsburgh company, sold before the show was over.

Blanchette, who five years ago was between jobs, now works seven days a week to meet the demand for new orders. The same goes for Raposa, who juggles the business with the demands of her three school-age children.

New York Pet Fashion Week capitalized on a growing trend, especially among empty nesters with disposable incomes, to treat their dogs like the children they never had, or replacements for the ones who grew up and moved away.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Americans spent a total of $38.4 billion on their pets last year, about $10 billion more than they did five years ago.

Dogs are the most popular, with nearly 74 million of them living in 43.5 million households in the United States, according to the association.

Over the last five years, Blanchette and Raposa have learned to respond to the market through their customers, with much of the contact coming over the Internet. They have separate Web sites for retail sales (myuptown pooch.com) and for wholesale buyers (emmarosedesign.com).

Emma Rose Design and Mhound have grown up around three dogs.

Wieder worked for more than a decade as a marketing and retailing executive for clothing firms. In the mid-1990s, she landed a job as president and CEO of Portico home furnishings in New York.

Six years ago, she left Portico, reassessed her professional life and got a dog named Eloise, a quail-hunting pointer known as Braque du Bourbonnais, which nearly became extinct after World War II.

Soon Wieder was knitting sweaters for Eloise. Passersby stopped the pair when they were out for a stroll and asked where they could get a sweater like Eloise's.

Through a friend of a friend, she made contact with a cooperative in Peru that knits alpaca sweaters for export. At first, she said, the Peruvian knitters had a hard time understanding that she wanted them to make sweaters for dogs. But the arrangement has worked well.

Wieder moved to Newport a little more than a year ago to be closer to the textile industry in Fall River, where she has found one company to sew coats for dogs and another to make bedding to her specifications.

She recently expanded her line to include coats, as well as velvet Edwardian neckties. The bedding will be available in the spring, Wieder said.

Although Mhound has an Internet presence at mhound.com, Wieder does not sell from there. Her products are available at retail outlets and at www.dogztogzgalleria. com, www.puplife.com and www.inthecompanyofdogs. com.

Blanchette and Raposa have recently hired two people to help them, although they still make all the clothes themselves, turning out about 50 outfits a day.

In contrast to Wieder's far-flung business ventures, Blanchette and Raposa's business is home-grown Rhode Island.

The company is named after Blanchette's dog Emma, 4 1/2 pounds of fluffy teacup poodle, and Raposa's dog Rose, who dwarfs Emma by comparison, weighing in at about 10 pounds.

Working in their homes — one room in Blanchette's basement is devoted entirely to fabrics — they have acquired a total of nine sewing machines. Raposa alone once turned out 200 dog coats in about 2 1/2 weeks.