The barmitzvah ceremony is a time-honoured Jewish tradition celebrating when a boy becomes a man – or, for some, when man's best friend does.
The latest trend in US Jewish life is for the "bark-mitzvah", marking the occasion of a dog's second birthday, which translates in human years to a boy's 13th.
Bark-mitzvot have been taking place for the better part of 15 years, but according to the Associated Press the industry is now experiencing a boom amongst America's wealthy Jews.
However the suggestion that canines can reach the same level of spiritual understanding as humans has been dismissed as barking mad by mainstream rabbis.
