Trends go to the dogs
By Kim Campbell Thornton
March 3, 2008
I visited the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association website looking for some stats on pet food purchases and couldn’t resist checking out the story on pet trends for 2008. Turns out we here at Pet Connection are right in the thick of trends 9, 10 and 11:
- Sophisticated small-business websites
- The power and influence of pet-related blogs, especially as seen during last year’s pet food recall
- More people traveling with their pets
Props to dogcars.com, petconnection and itchmo, all of which were mentioned in the piece. And traveling with pets? Well, I plead guilty. I prefer not to leave home without them.
Author Laura Bennett predicts a continued rise in pet-related spending, greater awareness of pet health, more people purchasing pet insurance, and further integration of pets into all aspects of people’s lives. Unless the recession brings some kind of backlash effect, it’s hard to argue with her.
Gratuitous puppy blogging: Harper continues to settle in. We returned home on Saturday and she took the seven-hour drive like a trooper. A stop at a fast-food restaurant brought the following comment from a teenage girl: “Oh my god, I don’t even like dogs and that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”
The neighbors are in love. “Why can’t we have a mini-Bella?” Cathy demands of her husband, Glenn. He reminds her that they both work all day. And Mary Lou, who is spurned by Twyla, is thrilled that Harper likes her.
Even Bella and Twyla are coming around. Not that they’re buddy-buddy or anything, but at least they’ve quit moving away from her. And I’ve even seen her curled up next to Twyla a couple of times. That’s real progress. Now the only one whose nose is really out of joint is Bear, the cute little Pomeranian around the corner. “Bear doesn’t see what all the fuss is about,” reports his owner, Tim, who also thinks that Harper’s pretty cute. And here I’d been hoping that at least Bear would be willing to play with her.
Today she went in for her vet check, and Dr. Hamil likes her too. No sign of a heart murmur, and she has good knees. She’s definitely cowhocked, though. Eh, so what. My legs are still good enough for both of us.
Last but not least, Harper has explained to us that she’s much too responsible to require crating at night. She’ll sleep in the dog bed with Bella, thank you very much. All in all, a good start.
As the travel/vacation season approaches, make sure you plan for your dogs/pets who may be travelling with you. An Emergency Travel Notification Form can be printed out here:
http://www.papillonclub.org/forms/Emergency.PDF
It’s a good idea to fill out two - attach one to the crate your dog is in, and put the other in the glove compartment. I have mine filled out and placed in an envelope taped to the crate. Also in the envelope is a photograph of my dog, and on the back I have printed out his name, breed, sex, age, and a word description to fill out the photograph. All of this should help conclusively identify your dog as YOURS in the unlucky event that you become injured and perhaps unconscious after an accident.
Finally, take off the tag that shows your dog’s home address and phone (since no one will be there while you’re traveling) and have a new tag printed (instant tag making kiosks are available at a lot of large stores). On the tag your dog will wear during travel, put the contact information for someone who CAN be reached - either a friend or relative at home, or the address and phone number of someone at your destination. That way, if your dog gets away and someone finds him and tries to call the number on the tag, they’ll actually be able to get in contact with someone who can help.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — March 4, 2008 @ 7:03 am