By EDWARD D. MURPHY

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Planet Dog wants to put a leash on its global operations.

The Portland company has moved production of its molded plastic products from the Dominican Republic to Springvale and plans to move production of its sewn products from China to domestic manufacturers by 2010.

"The economics of it have been better, producing those products in China, but -- and it's a big but -- in the last six months there has been a big change in how consumers view products made in China," said Catherine Frost, director of marketing and product development for the dog products company.

Planet Dog's reversal on sending production overseas is still unusual, but other companies are beginning to look critically at the true savings and costs -- tangible and intangible -- of sending the work offshore and how consumers view products made elsewhere.

Pet owners are likely to be especially sensitive to the country of origin for the collars, dog beds and toys that they buy for Fido, Frost said.

Dozens of brands of dog and cat food were recalled this spring when ingredients purchased from China were found to contain melamine, an industrial chemical that caused an unknown number of pet deaths.

"Working with China is not without its issues," Frost said. The same goes for the Dominican Republic and overseas manufacturing in general, she added, even if most of the issues are not as dramatic as chemical contamination. Planet Dog decided to move its production of plastic molded products to the Dominican Republic in 2004 after finding a company there that was located in a free trade zone and offered low labor rates.

It seemed a wise business decision, but, Frost said, turned out to be ill-considered. "It definitely was less expensive doing the work down there in terms of the price we had to pay. But there are some soft costs in there that are hard to account for," she said.

For instance, it's not unusual for Planet Dog to tweak designs after getting feedback from customers, she said. But tweaking is difficult from 1,700 miles away and checking prototypes and making subtle changes required a lot of travel or long stays in the Dominican Republic for Planet Dog executives.

"It really presented some issues," she said. "There are a lot better things that are going to come from being able to produce these products in Maine." When the Dominican manufacturer told Planet Dog last year that it was raising prices because of rising utility and labor rates and the devaluation of Dominican currency, the savings were diminished.

After factoring those "soft costs," Planet Dog decided to move production nearer home.

Planet Dog's decision likely saved a small Springvale manufacturer. G&G Products was founded in 1991 to make molds for shoe manufacturers, but by the late 1990s, most of the production for those companies had been moved to cheaper labor markets overseas.

"In one year, we lost at least 90 percent of our customers," said Gary Gagnon, who started the company. G&G at one point was down to one customer -- a Texas prison factory. Eventually, G&G Products shrunk to Gagnon and one employee, he said, and when Planet Dog came calling last year it was still struggling with a handful of customers and seven workers.

G&G had already been making the molds that Planet Dog sent to the Dominican Republic. But landing the contract to actually make the plastic products that come out of those molds led to a dramatic turnaround.

Other customers "kept us going, but it really is the dog toys that took off," Gagnon said.

The company turns out about 2,000 molded pieces for Planet Dog on an average day, Gagnon said, and G&G Products now has 23 workers on two shifts and even some production on weekends.

Gagnon is looking for more workers and a larger space. Frost said Planet Dog plans to send some work to another manufacturer in Massachusetts, due to increased demand and a desire to have more than one supplier, but Gagnon said he's not worried. "We're maxed out and I can't complain about that," he said.

Planet Dog plans to close its Chinese production, where cut-and-sew plush toys and other cloth items are made, within the next two years and hopes to find a Maine company to take over the work.

Products made overseas are usually still cheaper than those made in the U.S., and Planet Dog may have to raise prices as a result of the moves. But Frost thinks the company's customers are going to be looking for more than the price when they check out an item's tag.

The company plans to include information about where the products are made in its marketing, and moving manufacturing back to the U.S. "is very, very important for our 3,000 Planet Dog retailers throughout the country," she said. "It helps allay consumers' fears."