Mexican families have been getting more pet friendly over the past decade. Middle class families in particular have taken to dogs, and they love to show it with everything from clothes and accessories to restaurants and spas.

TIME reports that Mexico's reputation with dogs hasn't been the greatest in past years. The country has about 20 millions dogs, and a lot of them spend their days wandering the streets for food, isolated in apartments or chained to roofs. The problem was so bad that last year, a pack of wild dogs killed five people in Iztapalapa's Cerro de Estrealla park.

Still, "a small and growing number" of middle class members seem to be giving the Mexican dog its bone, according to TIME. Trends include having pastry chefs craft their pets' food and other luxuries. Part of this is because because many of the 40 million Mexicans in this economic class are having less kids than their ancestors.

"People are no longer having children at a young age ... because they can have a different lifestyle with luxuries they know they will no longer be able to afford once they have children," Zorayda Morales, an analyst with market research agency De La Riva Group, explained.

"We're seeing the growth of this idea in which a dog is an alternative to children," Raul Valadez Azua, a paleozoologist at Mexico City's National Autonomous University, added. "On the one hand, they are people who feel that the economic obligations of having a family are too high. On the other hand, they have the resources to give a lot of care to a pet."

For example, one Mexican family in particular reports throwing a $300 birthday party for their pooch which took place at a doggie hotel equipped with massages, aromatherapy and a gym.

"This goes beyond a trend," Renan Medina, an animal behaviorist explained. "People see their dog as part of the family."

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @SH____4.

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