Dog cafés are the latest trend to be hitting the pet industry with one business already in operation on the banks of Loch Lomond and another planned for London.

Dug Café at Lomond Shores, Balloch is a place for dog owners to take along their four-legged friends while they have coffee and cake or a bit of lunch and look out across the bay to the beautiful surrounding countryside.

"The inspiration really is my own dog Missy, a seven-year-old Newfoundland," explains owner Laura Davies from Callander.

"She's quite big, but a lovely dog and really easy to manage. When you go out with her it can be difficult to find somewhere to take your dog.

"We've taken her to a couple of local pubs but felt we were always rushed - not by the owners, but the other customers who might not be so comfortable with big dogs being around."

After working in sales and marketing in the healthcare industry, Laura jumped at the chance of a career change.

A large bowl of water sits at the door to Dug Café alongside a mat to wipe muddy paws and towels to rub down damp coats. Alongside cake stands overflowing with delicious bites for those customers on two legs, there are packets of doggy popcorn snacks and trays of organic dog food.

Meanwhile in London, the capital's first dog café is set to open later this year. The man behind this particular venture Kristjan Byfield said the idea for the café, the Happiness of Hound, came about after initial plans for a new dog food brand proved too costly.

"In working on the food brand, we had developed the idea of a canine café as a marketing tool and this stayed with us," he said.

"After continuing to follow the dog market and the ever-annoying result of being turned away from premises whenever in the company of our dogs we decided last year that, come hell or high water, 2014 would be the year we would launch a café space."

Mr Byfield said the venture would open ‘as soon as possible’, and revealed the public’s response to his plans had been incredible.