In the past two decades, pets have moved from doghouses and barns into the lap of domestic luxury, staking their claims to our beds and couches. And that's where most of the United States' 68 million dogs and 73 million cats spend their weekdays alone, even though two-thirds of their owners admit to feeling guilty about it.

Some owners have assuaged that guilt by taking their pets to work. They find that the wagging tails and throaty purrs of their best friends help ease job pressures.

All sorts of animals have found a place in the working world, but dogs still predominate. Here's a look at a few local creatures who work for their kibble, and the businesses that employ and enjoy them.

Radar's Range

Radar the border collie plays a vital role in making air travel safe for the millions of people who fly in and out of Southwest Florida Inter-national Airport each year. The five-year-old dog's specialty is chasing birds off taxiways and runways. Her efforts drastically reduce the number of potentially dangerous bird strikes by planes.

Five days a week, she and handler Rebecca Haggie clamber into a Fort Explorer and patrol the airport property. Even in the SUV, Radar is on the lookout for sandhill cranes, great blue herons and other birds attracted to the many drainage areas on airport grounds. When they spot birds, Haggie sets Radar loose and the dog races toward the prey, giving them the masterful "border-collie eye," as Haggie calls it.

"The bird community gets the news that there's a predator on this field," says Haggie.

Besides her field duties, Radar does a lot of public-relations work, meeting and greeting adoring fans. Haggie stands by armed with Radar's photos, inscribed with her pawtograph. Radar even has her own business cards. "She absolutely loves her job," says Haggie. No surprise there: Border collies are work dogs, though usually bred for herding sheep rather than birds.

Indeed, Radar sometimes has trouble leaving work behind. When she and Haggie recently traveled by air to a certification test, Radar kept a sharp eye on the field as they boarded the plane and waited to take off. "She was looking from the aircraft," says Haggie. "She knew exactly where she was. She knew where to look for the birds."

Business Is Hopping

Minnie the rabbit isn't much for quotes, but it's a sure bet she likes her current job better than the previous one. She began life by the lake at the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers, where she "lived under the boardwalk and only ate when people brought food," says her owner, Ria Brown, education specialist for Lee County Animal Services.

When the attraction changed hands, the new owners turned Min-nie and several other inhabitants over to Lee County Animal Services. That's where Brown met the mini rex rabbit, who arrived covered in mud. Brown already had a rabbit at home that didn't play well with others, so Minnie became a shelter pet. The four-pound brown-and-white rabbit turned out to be a portable ambassador for the shelter, accompanying Brown on visits to schools. Brown says that she puts the rabbit on her lap and "she'll just sit there and let the children pet her. That's her job."

When her other rabbit died, Brown took Minnie to her south Fort Myers home to live. Probably because of her early experience with roughing it, Minnie has no interest in hanging out on the porch or outdoors. But she enjoys a romp on the living-room rug, where she leaps, kicks her feet up "and does what a rabbit does when it's happy," says Brown.

Labs of Luxury

Like most jewelry stores, the Cedar Chest is filled with spotless glass cases displaying diamond rings, gold necklaces and precious gems. But the Cedar Chest, which occupies the tony Tahitian Village shopping complex on Sanibel Island, has two employees who make it different from most stores. Yogi and Jack, both English Labradors, are almost always on duty as the welcoming committee.

Most of the time, they nap peacefully in owner Pat Zambuto's office. If they hear a familiar voice, Yogi, a five-year-old yellow Lab, will amble out to stand with his big front paws on the nearest glass case, greeting the visitor with hearty tail wags and sometimes a bark. Jack, seven, joins in sometimes.

"They know the voices of certain customers," says Zambuto. One couple from Naples always brings the dogs home-baked biscuits. But it's the UPS man, who shows up more regularly (and always with treats in hand), who gets their most enthusiastic greeting.

"They hear the truck drive up and they bark like crazy," Zambuto says.

It isn't only Zambuto and her employees who enjoy the dogs. "A lot of people are on vacation," Zambuto says. "They miss their dogs and will come in here for a dog fix."

Ad Hounds

Walking into Insight Advertising's quiet lobby, you wouldn't know that there are multiple dogs in the office. That is, until you spot the well-chewed stuffed bunny lying in the hallway. Everyone who works at the Fort Myers marketing agency has dogs, although not all of the canines qualify as employees. Barkley, an oversized Yorkshire terrier, was relieved of duty when he started playing favorites. "He loved the FedEx person but hated the Airborne person," says Marianne Cushing, vice president and co-owner of the agency with Kimberly Powers, president.

These days, Powers' 10-month-old American Eskimo dog, Sophie, Cushing's two-year-old Yorkie, Elliot, traffic manager Karen Gruenthal's one-and-a-half-year-old Yorkie, Ruby, and senior art director Stephen Gray-Blancett's two Yorkies, Lily and Sebastian, serve as the agency's official greeters. (Lily is mother to Elliot and Ruby-she gave birth to Ruby, in fact, in Gray-Blancett's office.)

Gruenthal's office is treat central, with biscuits, rawhide chewies and other doggy treats lined up on a shelf the dogs eye anxiously. Naps generally take place in the two dog beds set up in Cushing's office. "When we started this business, we wanted it to feel like home," says Cushing. "We don't feel we can be as creative in [the corporate] sort of atmosphere."

And clients don't seem to mind."We find that people who don't like dogs don't like us, either," says Powers.

Pup Psychology

Those who retire to Florida often find that all leisure and no work can be a big bore. But Rhapsody in Blu, has avoided that problem. The blue brindle greyhound retired from her racing career four years ago. Now she and her owner, Barbara Mulle of Bonita Springs, enjoy the time they spend doing pet therapy.

Once a week, Mulle and her seven-year-old dog visit such spots as assisted living centers, Lee Memorial Hospital's oncology department and Fort Myers' Royal Palm Exceptional School.

Blu, who was somewhat shy when Mulle first adopted her, has blossomed and now confidently greets everyone she meets. She adores children. Sometimes she and the Royal Palm kids will race in an enclosed courtyard. Blu generally wins, but the kids don't mind losing to an animal that can run at speeds upward of 40 miles per hour.

At assisted living centers, the slender dog sidles up to residents, allowing them to pet her and talk to her. She's partial to one center, where residents come armed with dog treats. "Sometimes they have ice cream and she gets a little dish," says Mulle. Ah, the sweet rewards of a job well done.

Doggone Fun

The three human employees at DBR Marketing in Old Naples don't mind it a bit that they are outnumbered by the canine contingent. President Dolly Roberts brings in her Affenpinscher, Kohl, and her Havanese, Bo. Associate Kathy Wheeler is accompanied by her Havanese, Lulu, and sometimes by Casey, also a Havanese. Each dog has designated duties, says Wheeler.

"Bo is the CED-the chief executive dog," she says. The small dog does a great impression of a paperweight as she sprawls across Roberts' desk.

Three-year-old Kohl serves as director of security, although it appears he needs some job training. "He doesn't bark when people come in. He barks when they leave," says Wheeler. Lulu, who's four, is the queen. As Bo's mother, she doesn't have to do much. And she doesn't. Then there's Casey, a two-year-old black dog who comes in part-time as activities director.

Having dogs in the office gives the humans a reason to take several walks a day, including leisurely strolls along Third Street South.

"Havanese are companion dogs," Wheeler says. "They're not dogs you leave home alone for 12 hours a day. They want to be with their people. They're Velcro dogs."

An added plus: "You can't have high blood pressure with a dog in your lap or on your desk," says Wheeler.