Let us celebrate the existence of companion animals in our life. February 20 is celebrated as the National Love Your Pet Day throughout the U.S. The day is set aside to give extra attention to and pamper your pets.  This is a good day to focus on the special relationship that you have with your pets.

Either you’re a Dog mom, pet sitter, or a shelter volunteer — no matter what your interaction is with the animal, loving and caring for them is the best thing you can always do. And, it really doesn’t matter if your pet is a dog, cat, horse, birds, or even apes, you can always find the right opportunity to spend more time with them.

Consider enjoying this day with your pet by indulging in various fun activities.

Here are 5 things you can do with your pet

Take them for a long walk or hiking

Are you’re a dog owner, cat owner, or a horse owner? Consider taking your favorite companion for a long walk on this day. You can take them to their favorite place such as the park, by the river, and a beach.

If you’re an outdoor lover, you can consider taking them for the hiking to the woods, rocks, or even mountains. There can’t be anything better than enjoy outdoor and staying fit.

Shop for your Pet

Consider shopping for new toys, rugs, blanket, and shelter accessories for your pet. You can take them to pet stores to find their favorite new toy. Animals love choosing toys for themselves. Gifting them a new gift helps to combat animal depression.

Adopt a Pet or Visit Local Animal Shelter

About 6.5 million pets enter animal shelters nationwide every year.

Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats), simply because the pet shelters lack enough room for new pets and lesser pets are ever adopted.

It actually costs lesser to adopt a pet than buying a new one from the pet-farm or Puppy mills. Pet farms are the breeding center of pets that put profit above the welfare of dogs. The pets in farms are generally poorly housed.

Adopt a pet from your local shelter or rescue. There are more than just dogs and cats that need homes, pets such as bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, birds, and farm animals need forever homes too.

Give them a special treat

There is no special time to treat your favorite companion. Whether it’s a homemade dog biscuit or some catnip for your favorite kitty, consider giving your pet a treat in honor of National Love Your Pet Day.

Do care not to offer something that can prove to be health-hazardous like chocolates, cakes, seasoned meat etc.

Share moments in the Social Media

To encourage others to adopt new pets and to treat them right, you can share your own story or photos in the social media using the hashtag #NationalLoveYourPetDay. You can consider sharing when you and your pet met for the first time, like what were the initial challenges, and other unforgettable story or experience you share with your pet.

Showing the positive impact your dog has had on your life is a great way to show others that a dog might be right for them, too.