Pampering pets is a holiday tradition

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Many families treat animals like children


By Kathleen Norton
Poughkeepsie Journal



LAKE KATRINE — Let's face it, Santa puts up with a lot.

Kids wailing in his ear and sticky hands on the fluffy, white beard.

Not to mention facing all that dog breath.

Yes, there he was, striking a jolly pose recently in a pet supply store near Kingston with canines brought in for photo portraits with the grand marshall of the holiday shopping frenzy.

"Come on Hudson, show me that smile," coaxed Nick La Micela from the sidelines as Hudson and pal Buster, both wearing fashionable winter coats, perched patiently on Santa Claus' knees.

"I have four kids, and then I have two more," said La Micela of Stone Ridge. The two on leashes, a Lhasa apso and a Shih Tzu, sniffed around Santa's legs in a back corner of the PetSmart store before their photo shoot.

Besides donating to a good cause — $5 of the $9.95 photo fee goes to pet adoption groups — the portraits are a sign Fido and Fluffy, whether they know it or not, have a role in family holiday traditions.

Buster and Hudson (who did not produce a smile) might have been trying to show up Dreena, a friendly, miniature dachshund preceding them in line. She exhibited model behavior when she posed on Santa's left knee while her friend, 7-year-old Nathaniel Hamilton of Ulster Park, beamed from the right knee.

The shot of the boy and his dog will go on top of the TV with other family photos, said Nathaniel's mother, Dawn.

Asked if all the day's visitors had behaved well, Santa rolled his eyes and pushed up a sleeve to show scratches from a cat that had not been in the mood for picture-taking.

The other proof animals are part of holiday celebrations: Pets' names are on shopping lists in a big way.

Seventy million of the 130 million pet dogs and cats in the United States will get Christmas gifts, the American Pet Association estimates.

"People's pets are never forgotten under the Christmas tree," said Barbara Potter, owner of the Bird Cage Pet Shop in Hyde Park. She had to reorder some Christmas toys and treats that were running low in her Route 9G store that sells birds, hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, ferrets, reptiles and fish among other small pets.

Owners get help with pet gifts

With parrots squawking in the background, Potter helps people choose Christmas stocking fillers for rabbits and other small or feathered pets.

"You can tell when people come in that this is on their list of things to do, getting something for their furry little kids," said Christi Harris, manager at Animal Fair, a pet supply and gift boutique that is part of Compassion Veterinary Health Care Center on South Road in Poughkeepsie.

One of Animal Fair's priciest items, a $250 plush, paisley print pet bed, sold recently as a Christmas gift.

The millions of gifts bought for pets is no mystery if you consider answers to the American Pet Association's most recent survey of pet owners.

Based on answers from 17,000 people, the group estimates 16 million people are as attached to a pet as to their best friend; that 8 million are as attached to a pet as to their children; and that 5 million are as attached to a pet as a spouse.

Almost 40 percent have a pet's picture on display at home, while 16 percent carry a photo in a wallet or purse, the survey concluded.

Charlotte, a black Labrador retriever from the Town of Ulster, is one lucky dog. She'll find a generous pile of gifts for her Christmas morning, owner Tammy Cahill said.

"We love our dog. She gets lots of presents," Cahill said. "As we unwrap ours, she gets hers one at a time."

Charlotte might expect no less. She has a bed in every room of the house, her own talking Scooby Doo toy and a personal Christmas stocking.

Cahill and son Daniel, 15, were testing out the squeaky pet toys on a Petsmart rack of holiday goodies. It can't be just any toy, Cahill explained.

"She likes a certain kind of squeak."

Unwrapping of holiday gifts seems to be as thrilling as getting them, say some owners or "pet parents" as PetSmart spokeswoman Michelle Friedman called them.

Robin Kyle of Columbia County said her cat, Noel, likes ripping off the paper because she wants to get at catnip that's usually under the tree for her.

Kyle, while browsing at PetSmart, said she'd spend about $40 on two pets this year.

Besides the typical gifts of small toys and edible treats, local shops offer paw-shaped Christmas stockings, Santa coats and matching reindeer antlers that light up.

The pet wears one set of antlers — the owner dons the other pair.

Funstufffordogs.com, an online shopping service, offers gift baskets of pet treats, rhinestone holiday collars, plush Hanukkah toys and personalized tree ornaments.

Sometimes, the pet becomes the Christmas gift, but people should avoid putting an animal into an overwhelming or chaotic holiday situation, Harris said.

Potter has taken orders for several dozen small animals and birds that will be picked up in time to be given this year as gifts.

She's already sold one $1,400 cockatoo, plus its $500 cage, as a Christmas gift.

Potter warned if you have the bucks, but no spare time, a cockatoo is not the right choice.

"They like to be held and cuddled and loved," she said. The remaining one in her shop hopped onto her arm and snuggled against her shoulder.

Harris said she's seen customers gradually buying more at the holidays for their pets because animals seem to be more important than ever in people's lives.

It does not surprise her.

"Animals give you things that people can't. They're always in a good mood when you get home," she said. "They give you unconditional love."

"They give unconditional everything."