38 Times Dogs Deserved Only The Best Dog Houses And People Accepted The Challenge

One of the most famous barkitects, who really contributed to the boom of this trend, is Johnathan Lower.

In 2021, he, then a real estate agent in South Carolina, posted some old photos on TikTok that showed how he had turned a closet into a miniature home for his golden retriever, Teddy.

The post quickly racked up millions of views and Lower set out to build an even more elaborate indoor dog house for Teddy, this one including lights, wall decor, a miniature television, a faux fireplace, and a tiny magazine called 'Playdog.' ("I just did it because I'm extra," Lower said.)

The popularity of Teddy's custom doghouse helped Lower build a nearly 8-million-dollar following on TikTok alone and led to partnerships with brands like Petsmart, Subaru, and Hilton.

But whether it's the subreddit 'Barkitecture', TikTok, or other social media platforms, there are plenty of pet owners who are showcasing their own dog nooks. Lower said he had recently seen personal contractors and entire home construction companies offering under-stair dog houses.

Fueled by these social media images, magazine spreads, and home renovation TV shows, people aren't afraid to invest their resources into one-of-a-kind homes for pets.

Some families are incorporating custom-built showers just for dogs into their entrances and laundry rooms so that muddy pups don't have to be rinsed off outside or in a human shower.

There are electronic pet doors that open only for the chip on a specific pet's collar, custom kennels built to blend into a room's decor, and pet feeding stations that come with water faucets that automatically fill the critter's bowl in the kitchen.

While some barkitecture elements have been in use for a decade or more, according to Jennifer Pinto, an interior designer for Jackson Design and Remodeling, the trend saw a big boom during the pandemic.

"People were nesting at home and really viewing their spaces more as sanctuaries," Pinto told The Guardian. "A lot of people started hyper-focusing on their pets."

And the numbers are telling us that many aren't stopping.

For example, according to the American Pet Products Association's (APPA) 2022 State of the Industry data, that year total pet industry sales topped $136.8 billion, representing an increase of 10.8% from 2021.

Plus, about half of US pet owners now consider pets to be "as much a part of their family as a human member."

Lower, the dog influencer, and Teddy's owner, said that beneath the pet architecture trend, he sees a more profound social change: a decrease in the share of households with children and a continued rise in pet ownership. Particularly among younger Americans, Lower added, more people may feel that they can afford a pet than that they can afford having kids.