Celebrating Our Pets: Unconditional Love
At the end of this week, we will celebrate National Love Your Pet Day! How appropriate is it that we are celebrating our pets during the month of LOVE and FRIENDSHIP?! Our pets play an important role in our lives!
National Love Your Pet Day is a special day for pet owners to give extra attention to your pets. Do you know the many human benefits you get from having pets in your life? Pets have more love and compassion to offer than many humans.
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.”
Martin Buber, German Philosopher
The Benefits of Having Pets in Your Life
Think about the many benefits you get from your pets! You learn to be more patient and compassionate, and develop very special relationships.
Since your pets always offer unconditional love, you expand your ability to LOVE. They provide companionship, affection, and enjoyment!
All of these benefits help you relax and promote feelings of calm and well-being.
Spending time with your pets helps reduce human stress and lowers blood pressure, also. Additionally, it promotes the time we spend exercising and being active as we care for their needs.
Getting outside with your pets gives you a day of sunshine and smiles together!
As you can see, there are many reasons we should be celebrating our pets during the month of love!
Activities for National Love Your Pet Day
Here are some things you can do to show your love and appreciation for your pets on National Love Your Pet Day:
- Check to make sure your pets’ vaccines are up to date.
- Play their favorite games or bring out their favorite toys.
- Inspect all their toys to make sure they are in good shape and safe. Throw out any broken toys.
- Check their bedding and make sure it is clean, fresh, and fluffy.
- Go for a walk with your pet.
- Spend extra time grooming and brushing stress away.
- Pamper your pet.
- Make your pets homemade treats.
- Plan a special play date.
- Spotlight your pets on social media.
Unique Character Traits of Loving A Pet
Did you know humans have a special character trait that is unique to all other species? That special trait is what makes us human: WE LOVE OUR PETS!
“I think having an animal in your life makes you a better human.”
Rachael Ray, American Television Personality
We have a desire to care for and love the animals we choose to have in our lives as pets. No other species has this character trait.
Sixty-seven percent of American families are current pet owners. That’s 85 million families!
5 Reasons Humans Are Grateful for Their Pets
- Pets give unconditional love.
- They help provide comfort when their humans are sad.
- They cause their humans to look forward to going home every day.
- Pets help their humans become more loving, caring people.
- Pets help teach their humans to be patient and kind.
Did you know?
- 10% of Americans let their pet sleep in be with them.
- 10% of American talk to their pet in a special voice.
- 9% of Americans consider their pet to be their best friend.
- 22% of pet owners treat their pet like a family member.
- 5% of pet owners admit to changing their schedules to spend time with their pets.
More Benefits We Get from Loving Our Pets
They are great listeners! They are willing to sit through your endless stories, do not roll their eyes or argue, and do not complain when you repeat your favorite story 100 times.
Our pets make you feel good and improve your mood. Think about that sense of peace you feel when you have a cat sitting in your life.
There is scientific evidence that indicates spending time with pets boosts feel-good hormones.
Our pets give us a reason to get active! Take a hike or toss a frisbee in the yard with your dog. Play a game with your cats.
The laughter of watching cats chase a laser light is infectious and improves mood.
We show pride in our pets. We all think our pets are adorable and love to share them, show their pictures, and talk about them. They give us an excuse to be social and show off our furry friends.
We all need someone special to love, right?
And again, we have to remember how they give love unconditionally. They love you back no matter what.
If you are grouchy, they love you. If you are tired, they love you. All you have to do is love them and they will love you back.
More Ways to Celebrate Your Pets
As discussed here, humans get many incredible benefits from loving a pet. But the most important is how your heart overflows with LOVE.
So be sure to honor your pet this weekend while we are celebrating the month of LOVE!
Two additional days just for celebrating your pets:
June 4 – National Hug Your Cat Day
August 10 – National Spoil Your Dog Day
And while you are celebrating LOVE, you can read Love Yourself Enough here for reminders about why it is important to love yourself, too.
You can also read about Positive Selfishness here to learn more about loving yourself so you can be better for the humans and pets in your life!
Final Thoughts
As an animal lover, I would like to share my favorite pet webpages with you. Please visit the following links for great pet information and advocacy.
https://www.dogtopia.com/blog/
https://theanimaladventurepark.com/Page/home
I would also encourage you to visit your local shelter in honor of National Love Your Pet Day. You can volunteer time to help at the shelter or you can donate needed supplies, such as:
- Towels
- Blankets
- Linens
- Newspapers
- Pet crates
- Cleaning supplies
- Leashes and collars
- Pet beds
- Boxes
If you are a pet owner, thank you for loving and caring for an animal who has so much to offer. I am sure your life is more fulfilled by your pets’ love and devotion.
So let’s be sure we are celebrating our pets’ unconditional love this weekend on National Love Your Pet Day – Saturday, February 20 – during the month of LOVE.
Bonus Photos (Just Because… )
Related Article: How to Bring More Cozy into Your Life
If you’ve enjoyed this article, please share it with your pet-loving friends… thanks!
Love to All! ~ Susan
This was a beautiful read. Pets are so precious! It’s crazy to think that the simple act of stroking a dog can reduce lower your blood pressure. Animals make the world go around ❤️
Thank you so much! It’s not something we think about without a reminder, but we sure do get companionship and love from our pets!
Pets are great. I could not imagine my life without them. My dogs are my babies and they bring me so much joy every single day. I must mark this National Spoil Your Dog Day in my calendar 😀
I agree! But I’m a crazy cat lady! I have four granddoggies though:) And yes, my pets bring me great joy everyday, too! Thanks for commmenting!
When I first came to America, I was so amazed at how Americans treat their pets. It’s something that I’ve never witnessed before.
I am from Madagascar; in my tribe, it’s taboo to buy or sell a dog, and we cannot allow dogs in the house. But I married an American, and he and my daughters love dogs. They’ve been begging for a dog for a long time, but I always refused. So my husband secretly bought a husky ?. I like dogs, but I didn’t want dogs because my mother lives with us. She is so old school and scared of taboos. She was not happy at all when my husband brought the puppy home.
But something incredible has happened since we got the dog; my daughters love to go hiking all the time now because of the dog. There’s less stress in the home, and our stubborn husky makes us laugh all the time. Even my mother likes the dog; she likes to play with him. She just refuses to admit it ?
I love having a dog, it’s a lot of work, but it’s fun.
I love reading your article because all those benefits you’ve mentioned are true and I’ve witnessed them myself. Great article!
Oh Colette, I have happy tears in my eyes from reading your precious words! It must have been a hard cultural transition to have a pet. Your story is so inspirational and your words warm my heart. And it’s ironic that you are from Madagascar because that’s a place that I’ve wanted to go for a few years since I first met lemurs at my favorite animal park and learned that they are native only to Madagascar! I find them to be fascinating creatures! My granddaughter even played one in a school play! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story and commenting on my article! I really appreciate you!