Blog: Quality Gift Boxes

The holidays are close at hand, so it’s time to start thinking of gifts to give your loved ones and friends. Finding unique gifts can present a challenge, and most people never consider giving pet-related gifts. Since the chances are good that more than one person on your holiday gift list has a pet that he or she adores, why not give a distinctive gift that your recipient will treasure? Here are five great gift ideas to get you started:
1. Fine Art Animal Prints
Dogs may come in many shapes and sizes, but each has a personality all its own. One of the most delightful gifts you can give to a pet lover is a fine art print of his or her breed. One of the most notable artists offering fine art animal prints is Lorena Pugh. Her print, “Princess,” for example, depicts a white toy poodle laying atop a stack of twelve colorful pillows, while “Angel Face” showcases a gorgeous pug who has just snagged a cluster of grapes off of a dining room table. In “Chocolate Craving,” she realistically captures the yearning of a chocolate lab as he reaches for a tennis ball against a beautiful background of blue sky. These limited edition animal prints are sure to be treasured, as each comes with a consecutively numbered dog tag to match the tag in the print.
2. Crystal Animal Statues
Whether your gift recipient has a dog, cat, horse, or rabbit, he or she is sure to enjoy an elegant crystal animal statue. Typically made from 24 percent lead crystal, hand-finished animal statues are beautiful yet whimsical. Crystal animal statues can depict a wide variety of pets, from a sitting cat to a dog with a bone; from a turtle to a frog; from a horse to a mouse; and from a duck to a dove.
3. Stone Animal Statues
Who wouldn’t love a playful stone animal statue depicting their beloved pet? Animal garden statues are perfect gifts, as are stone animal statues for the home and office. While some statues – like a sleeping spaniel puppy or an eager dachshund – make you feel warm inside, others – like a cat holding a pair of binoculars up to his eyes, ever watchful for a bird – make you chuckle. Stone animal statues are available for virtually any type of pet, and are certain to be cherished.
4. Animal Posters
If you’ve ever owned a pet, you know how funny they can be. Animal posters depict pets in a variety of outlandish situations (remember the cat in “Hang in There”?), and are eminently affordable. An animal poster is sure to bring a smile to your recipient’s face.
5. Entertainment
When it comes to gifts for pet lovers, there’s nothing more unique that pet-related entertainment. There is actually a music company that creates music for animals, so consider giving a gift of music about and for cats, dogs, or birds. Another great gift idea is to buy a DVD or video that is designed to entertain your recipient’s dog or cat. Your friend or loved one can play the DVD or video while he or she is at work or out running errands – guilt free!
It’s both original and thoughtful to give a gift that acknowledges your recipient’s pet as a central part of his or her life. Pet lovers will appreciate and treasure your gift, whether it’s a fine art animal print or an entertaining DVD.

It could be said that consumerism has gone too far when you start mailing out birthday cards to your sister-in-law’s dog or a message of sympathy to a friend who has just lost a pet, but it’s more lasting and thoughtful than a quick eCard that’s looked at once and deleted. It’s the thought that counts, and if there’s a Christmas card on the tree addressed to the family dog it’s really for the kids and the people who like to include everybody in the good time. Greeting cards are fun for the sender, even though the pet can’t appreciate the artwork and clever messages that the humans enjoy on their behalf.

It makes quite an impression that someone went out of their way to pay homage to your pet by shopping for a novelty item like a congratulatory card for acquiring a new puppy or other family companion from the pet store. Spending a lot of time with animals has been proven to improve a person’s health and longevity; there’s something about caring for another that makes people feel happy and fulfilled. Domestic animals are helpless loving creatures with a childlike innocence and so they provide a relief from the complex and often confusing day-to-day world of human existence.

Playful pets like dogs and cats are the most popular since it’s hard to interact with fish, birds, or hamsters with their short attention spans. Retail stores charge upwards of two thousand dollars for a quality family dog and people are eager and willing to pay once a connection is made at the store. The new owners will license it, feed it, take it for walks clean up after it, and bring it in for medical care. The pet becomes an investment in time, labor, money, and emotion. The pet truly is a family member and once adopted and cared for, the cat or dog is showered with love and attention. It’s been said that some people treat their pets better than humans. Every once a while a newspaper story will tell of an eccentric rich person leaving everything to the cat, which leaves relatives contesting the will and questioning the sanity of the deceased.

The pet sympathy card makes a lot of sense; very often your friend or relative and the children involved will be extremely distraught over the loss of a beloved pet. That’s when the card really is for the human owner’s solace and the message shows that you care and the condolences are truly genuine. People mourn for weeks and having that card nearby assures them that others care about the loss.

Reinforcing friendships and family ties is the role of the greeting card. If you haven’t seen someone in a while and you get a card celebrating the adoption of a new pet, it shows that the word has gotten around about the event. This makes the individual feel like others are thinking about him or her, and there’s a reason to phone and thank them for being so thoughtful.

Even people who are sociable and popular can feel loneliness and isolation in their private moments; this is where a pet can be such a great comfort. The cat doesn’t have to sort through complicated emotions and the effects of the cruel outside world. A warm lap is all they ask and the calm purring relaxes the owner and makes the surroundings much more pleasant.

A digital eCard defeats the purpose of the message. It’s well-known that they can be obtained online for free, so the time and money gesture is missing and the card appears to be more of an afterthought than a genuine emotional effort. The physical card arrives in the mail; it has an envelope and stamp showing that it was important enough to be hand-delivered to your home. It comes as a surprise as you open it and it can be the highlight of the day as you run to the phone to thank the giver.

Like all novelty items, you can order pet greeting cards from websites at low cost compared to cards found in retail stores. Christmas is a time when it’s difficult to come up with new gift ideas, so it’s a good idea to stock up on pet cards for all the pet owners on your gift list. Mixed box sets are available so that you can have cards for all occasions for the pet lovers in your life. After all, the gift is in the giving.