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With all the talk about holidays starting up - I wanted to warn you of a pet peeve I have (no pun intended)

When my neighbor, Anna, told me last December that she was picking up a puppy to surprise her niece and nephew with on Christmas morning, I tried to talk her out of it."The children need to be part of the pet selection process," I argued. "And most shelters and rescue leagues will insist that everyone in the household - including the person receiving the gift - come and meet the animal before an adoption."

Blog Tag: www.petazon.com/blog (Hey .. my first blog tag ... and this entry is so related to the Petazon Pet Supplies blog!)

Anna (who does not have kid's of her own) was wavering, so I pressed on. " A holiday is the worst time to bring a new pet home, for your sister, her kids and the pet. There's already so much activity and stress. A new pet needs just the opposite: quiet time, lots of attention, a set routine. And she'll have even more to worry about, just when she is swamped the most."

After being reminded of the chaos that rules her sister's house each Christmas, and both her own exhaustion and the exhaustion of her sister, Anna agreed. Instead of a puppy under the tree, she bought a Thermo-Bed Heated Dog Bed and pinned a card to it that read, "Dear Kids, After Christmas, we'll pick out a puppy together at the Shelter."

Anna had avoided a common pitfall: surprise gifts, however well-intentioned, don't always work out, and can end up being returned - not a big deal if the gift is a sweater, but a very big deal if a live animal is involved.

Each time a pet is adopted and returned, it becomes more confused and frightened, and more difficult to place in a permanent home. Even though parents usually end up being a pet's primary caretaker, compatibility between children and pets is an important ingredient in a long-lasting relationship.

Don't give pet's for Christmas - give an IOU!!

Christmas Wall Art

Labels: Pet Christmas Gifts