With over 85 million households owning pets, pet ownership is at an all-time high. This is a huge culture shift that has put more focus on the importance of caring for our pets. These changes are affecting the pet industry in a huge way making it grow faster than ever. Here are a few of the trends dominating the pet industry this year.

Technology

Technology in the pet industry is such a fun and interactive way to reach your customer and their pets. There are now many ways that a pet owner can see and interact with their animal while their away. There are cameras dedicated to pets that allow a pet owner to open an app on their phone and see what their dog is doing, talk to them, and even give them a treat or two. This technology can cut down on separation anxiety on both sides of the pet owner relationship. Another fun way to soothe a dog that may have separation anxiety is television specifically for dogs! DogTV is a learning and entertainment network specifically for dogs.

Treats

Pet treats still come in options where you can buy 100 for 5$ and call it a day, however, that variety of treat is not at the forefront of the pet owners mind when shopping. Treats that are decorative or have a unique flavor to them are taking over in a big way. Many bakeries now exist that make handcrafted treats for animals, completely controlling what a pet is being fed instead of loading their treats up with fillers like many large manufacturers do. Custom treats can range from birthdays to Christmas and come in a variety of animal safe flavors.

Doggy Daycare

Many pet owners will no longer simply leave their animal at home alone while they work a 12 hour day. Popular doggy care services being offered include drop off day care where pets are watched in a facility providing food, water, play, and rest for the animals. Another popular service is in home doggy sitting. Some services will come to a pet owners home and feed, walk, play with, and watch over the animal while the owner is away. Both of these types of services are popular for daily and overnight usage.

Customizable Foods

Many pets, like people, have specific dietary needs that will keep them at their optimal health. Some of the causes for needs like this include: Allergies, digestive issues, renal issues and many more. For this reason, customizable pet meals are important to many consumers. They are interested in knowing that their pet is eating the right foods for their diet needs so pet meal subscription services are a huge growing trend.

Importance Of Ingredients

Beyond specific pet diets, the importance of the ingredients that go into any sort of pet food or treat is important. Pet owners want to know if the ingredients are safe, sustainably sourced, should they be in pet food, etc. Widely and commonly used ingredients in pet food have always been fillers like by-products of starches and grains, not even the grain themselves. Many pet owners are now avoiding foods that contain these fillers because the foods are not healthy for their animals and they’re not getting the value and nutrition that they are paying for.