Christmas Pet Shopping

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 12/19/09

With the shopping season in full swing, everyone is buying presents for their friends, children, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents. My question today is how many of you are going to buy a Christmas present for your pet?

According to the American Pet Products Association 2009/2010 National Pet Owners Survey, 62% of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 71.4 millions homes. Compare that to 1988 when 56% of the households had either a litter box or pooper -scooper on the premises. The trend is growing and more and more people are adding pets to their families. Just take a look around at the PetSmart and Petco stores and the specialty pet stores that have popped over the last few years.

Let me put it right out there on the table, I do buy Christmas presents for our pets. Each pet even has a stocking hanging next to the people stockings over the fire place. I have never bought an outfit for any of them, but they do get stuffed animals, squeakers and raw hide chew bones. And in our house, the pets give us presents every Christmas too. I know I am not spilling the beans here, because they give the same gift every year: The dogs come through with socks for everyone and the cats always give new underwear.

Dog toys that move fast during the holidays are plush animals, oversized rawhide bones and pet fashions such as sweaters and coats. Many new pet fashions are so stylish, you might end up wishing they had one available in your size. The fashions seem to be limited to the dogs mainly. We all know what happens to a cat when you put a sweater on it – it falls over sideways, stiff as a board.

Fancy dog and cat beds are big sellers around the holidays too. With styles ranging from orthopedic dog beds to cat condos, there is sure to be an option that will make your pet happy and not break the bank.

This practice of giving pets Christmas presents has so intrigued me that I had to ask around and see how other people felt about it.

I called my sister in Maryland to ask if she buys her Wheaton Terrier, Maddie anything for Christmas. “I just get her an oversized bone. She doesn’t know any differently,” she said. “But our neighbor dog sends Maddie Christmas cards signed ‘your furry friend, Rosey.” Also, she said the kennel where she boards Maddie gives a fancy dinner with people food to all the dogs that stay over Christmas.

Next I called my friend Chalisa to see if she does the present thing at her house with their two dogs and a cat. “We usually give the dogs a large bone or special treat. And sometimes we even do the rats,” she said. When I asked what one would give a pet rat for Christmas her reply was “a yummy kind of rat-food thing.”

My best friend in Santa Fe owns her third French Bull Dog, Miss Puff. The dog goes to the art gallery where she works everyday and sleeps on a fluffy cushion in the main room. I thought I knew what the answer would be but I had to hear her tell how spoiled the dog is on Christmas. “No, I am not buying her a present; of course not,” she says blindsiding me with her answer. “She is a dog, not a human. I give my dog a gift everyday. I love her with all my heart but I am not buying her a gift.”

For anyone looking for a pet, Watermelon Mountain Ranch is holding their last adoption event of the year this weekend in the PetSmart parking lot on Coors Bypass. If you don’t want another pooch but want to have its picture taken with Santa, you can do that too. You know you want to.

Quote of the Week: “While I was Santa last week at PetSmart, a gaggle of dachshunds came in all at once. How was I supposed to hold all of them?” – Michael Howland-Davis