National Pet Week was founded in 1981 by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the AVMA Auxiliary and is now widely celebrated throughout the United States and other parts of the world. Each year, its goals are: to promote responsible pet ownership, celebrate the human-animal bond, and promote public awareness of veterinary medicine.

Chip taking a nap

Here are 10 suggestions from Animal Planet on how to celebrate this week!

Pets can get lonely when their owners are away at school or work, so schedule regular playtime with your pet.

1. Schedule an appointment for your pet’s regular annual or semi-annual examination with your veterinarian.

2. Prevent pet overpopulation by spaying or neutering your pet.

3. Make caring for your pet the entire family’s responsibility by creating a “responsibility chart” with all the things your pet needs. Divide up the tasks among family members.

4. Help make it possible for others to enjoy the benefits of pet ownership by making a donation to a local animal shelter or volunteering your time.

5. When considering a snake, lizard or frog as a pet, please know that they need very special care (housing, temperature control, food) in order to remain healthy. It is a good idea to speak with a veterinarian if you’re thinking about bringing a reptile or amphibian into your family.

6. Birds like to bathe themselves, so provide a clean bowl of water for your companion bird several times a week. Make sure to keep your bird warm and out of drafts until it is completely dry.

7. Visit a neighbor who doesn’t get out of the house much and bring your pet along to help keep this person company.

8. Birds can be very sensitive to cooking smells, so it is a good idea to keep your bird out of the kitchen.

9. Throw out your pet’s old, dirty, or shredded toys and treat it to a new toy.

10. Start a photo album of pictures of you and your family with your pet.

Post from: Blisstree

It’s National Pet Week

National Pet Week celebrates the bond between people and their pets while raising awareness for responsible pet ownership and care.

PetSmart and Animal Planet, two entities that know all about the love of pets, have teamed up for a line of pet products that are sure to please the four-legged and their owners. The high quality toys feature popular Animal Planet creatures like meerkats and ostriches, and are made with safe and durable materials that are designed to help promote the well-being of animals and strengthen the bond that people have with their pets.

A portion of the sales of Animal Planet pet products will directly benefit R.O.A.R, Animal Planet’s project to help make the world a better place for animals. R.O.A.R. supports American Humane Society, Petfinder.com, World Wildlife Fund, and other principal non-profit partners.

The Animal Planet pet line launches this May at PetSmart stores nationwide.

National Pet Week was founded in 1981 by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the AVMA Auxiliary and is now widely celebrated throughout the United States and other parts of the world.

[images used with permission from JAKKS]

Post from: Blisstree

Animal Planet Lands at PetSmart

The Puppy Bowl is an annual broadcast by Animal Planet that coincides with the Big Game. For its fifth year, the Bowl will feature over a dozen rough and tumble puppies of all breeds romping around a small “field” with cameras catching every playful minute. It will also bring back the cute “tailgating puppies” from the third year, and will introduce Pepper the Parrot, who will sing a unique rendition of the National Anthem!

The Bissel Kitty Halftime Show was introduced in the second year of the Bowl and was an instant hit (how could it not be?).

The half-hour halftime show involves kittens playing around on kitty trees and batting at toys (and each other), and ends with a blast of confetti and streamers.

The best part of all (aside from all the adorable puppies and kittens) is that all the animals in the show are available for adoption after the big day!

So are you going to watch?

[images: animal planet]

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Feedback Friday: Are You Going to Watch the Puppy Bowl?

Animal Planet will be airing its own performance reality TV with “Dancing With Dogs” this Saturday, December 6th!

The show puts a unique spin on people’s relationships with their dogs, involving something known as “canine musical freestyle,” and it’s exactly what you think it is! People and their dogs will be getting down to rock, hip-hop, classical and country and will include every breed from poodles to retrievers to mutts.

The video clip above maybe isn’t as good as others we’ve seen but the show looks like it’s got potential! Will you be watching?

“Dancing With Dogs” premieres Saturday, Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) on Animal Planet.

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“Dancing With Dogs” to Premiere on Animal Planet

Think you have a talented pet? Animal Planet and Bissell want to know about it!

The Bissell Pet Games Video Contest wants talented, funny pets that can do more than roll over or beg, and if you know of one it’s your chance to win $10,000 for a charity of your choice!

Submitted videos will be featured on the website where visitors can vote for People’s Choice and the Grant Prize. Once your video is featured you can encourage friends and family to vote for it!

Videos no longer than one minute can be submitted here, and watched and voted on here. There don’t seem to be many entries yet so make sure you get yours in!

[image used with permission from animal planet]

Post from: Blisstree

The Bissell Pet Games

We are huge Meerkat Manor fans here. We actually didn’t start watching until season 3, and I’m not sure what actually prompted us to start recording it. I think the girls may have stopped on an episode and my husband and I got interested in it too, and we decided to make it one of our family night shows.

Even after just seeing one season of it I think it’s safe to say we’re hooked for the duration of the series. It was easy to get caught up in the apparent dramas of life in the Kalahari Desert, especially with Sean Astin narrating!

Tomorrow’s premiere kicks off with a 90 minute special titled “Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins,” narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and which actually first aired last month. We’d been waiting for it since it was first announced not long after Flower’s death and while it’s a bit corny in parts it was really sweet to see Flower as a baby and her rise as a powerful dominant female. Season four begins right after in its normal timeslot of Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET/9:30 p.m. PT.

Do you watch Meerkat Manor?

[image credit: Animal Planet]

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Meerkat Manor Season 4 Premieres Tomorrow!

Every year for the last few years Animal Planet has been broadcasting their Puppy Bowl pre-game show. Tune in Sunday, February 3 from 3-6 PM (ET/PT) to see puppies of all breeds do what puppies do best: frolic, tumble, and make you say awww!

From baby beagles to mini dachshunds to mixed breeds — viewers are in for a fantastic lineup that’s itching to play in a winning combination of tackles, puppy penalties and fido first downs. The renowned Harry Kalas, voice of NFL Films, returns to call the play-by-plays of this year’s game.

Cat lovers aren’t left out either. The half-time show, sponsored by Bissell (who else?) – will feature kittens on a glittery stage chasing each other and batting toys around.

Check out the puppy lineup and even find out about the shelters they come from!

And for the first time this year the program will be broadcast in hi-def.

Post from: Blisstree

Don’t Miss the Puppy Bowl IV!

Since I can’t, though, I’ll live vicariously through the people who have posted pictures of a product called KatWALLk. The site explains KatWALLk as “Perhaps the most logical cat furniture or cat tree you can get your paws on.” The whole thing makes a lot of sense to me – our cats are constantly trying to get up as high as they can: the tops of doors, the top of the entertainment center, the top of the fridge, closet shelves, etc.

Post from: Blisstree

Up on the KatWALLk