Pet Appreciation Week

Although we should be letting our pets know how special they are to us every day, June 7th through June 13th 2015 is National Pet Appreciation Week. This is the "PURfect" time to celebrate just how much our favorite four-legged friends mean to us.

Some of us are cat people and some of us are dog people but, regardless of which category you or I fall into, most of us are just plain crazy about our pets. The connections we form with our cats and dogs are often the longest and strongest relationships in our lives. These kind creatures are our soul mates, our best friends, and sometimes even our surrogate children.

So what makes our pets such key members of our families? Perhaps it’s because our beloved pets have long provided us with comfort, camaraderie, and unconditional love. Cats and dogs are our unending source of kisses, cuddles, slobber, claws, and laughs. They make great companions for anyone at any age and can even be excellent exercise partners...well, at least for those of us who actually want to exercise!

This week is about going that extra mile and really showing our furry family members just how much we love and cherish them. And to help us out with this, here are a few suggestions from a pet's point of view on how they would like us to celebrate this week with them.

1. "Make sure we have a proper and up-to-date identification tag." What a great time to make sure your playful pup or curious kitty can make it home easier if he or she is ever lost.

2. "Treats and LOTS of them ...we pets don’t mind at all when you show us how much you love us with our favorite treats!"

3. "LOTS of hugs and kisses...just because we deserve it!"

4. "Make sure we are eating the right food. Food is very important to us, and we always let our humans know if we're unhappy in this department!" This is a great time to make sure the food your pet is eating is appropriate for their age and weight.

5. "More toys! Have you seen some of the super cool new toys in the pet stores? Some of them are really challenging and make us pets think while we play!"

6. "Take us on a special outing!" This could be visiting a new park or beach, switching up the walking route, attend a pet-friendly social event, etc.

7. "Did we mention treats?"

"Just a few ideas to get you thinking about treats...ooops, we mean Pet Appreciation Week! WOOF-WOOF, MEOW-MEOW!" Happy tails to you until we meet again!