If you practice in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, you may want to consider adding a pet-pampering service to your hospital's offerings for its canine patients. At least, that’s what some new consumer research suggests.

Thumbtack, a consumer review website in San Francisco, asked consumers across the United States to identify whether they used nine dog-related services, ranging from dog walking to grooming to massage. Researchers then analyzed the data in each state. The result is a state-by-state Pet Pampering Index (PPI), published on Sept. 10. (An interactive data map is also available on their site.)

The top 10 pet pampering states, in order of their PPI rating, include:

1. Massachusetts
2. Rhode Island
3. Utah
4. Colorado
5. Arizona
6. Connecticut
7. Florida
8. Washington
9. Maryland
10. New Hampshire

Dog owners in the Midwest and South were least likely to offer Fido pampering. However, Lucas Puente, Thumbtack’s economic analyst, offered some rational for the lower scores.

“Dog owners in some states…were more likely to focus their energies on more expensive, one-time activities such as training their dogs…while other states had dog owners requesting more regular, less-expensive activities like dog walking and doggie day care,” Puente told Pet Product News.

Photo Credit: © iStock/ruthrose