Recently, I’ve had discussions with three animal lovers I know about Internet shopping for pet supplies. Interestingly enough, even though all three people live pretty different lifestyles, they all preferred shopping online for their animals’ needs versus going to an actual brick-and-mortar store.
My friend, Yolande, was the first person who brought up the whole Internet shopping thing. Yolande has two dogs and also owns a quarter horse, which she boards in Virginia at the same stable where I keep my mare. As we were trail riding the other day, she told me that she had just ordered a pair of winter riding boots from an online pet supply store.
I asked her why she hadn’t gone to a local tack shop instead, and she grimaced. Because she lives and works in Washington, D.C., it turns out she has very little time to get to a tack shop, except on the weekends, when she prefers to spend what little free time she has riding to driving to a tack store and shopping.
Yolande also told me that she often orders food, supplies and treats for her two beloved dogs online, as well. Her home in D.C. isn’t close to a major pet store, so getting to one means making a long drive and finding a parking space, which isn’t always easy in the city. She related to me how even buying a big bag of dog food from a nearby market can be a pain, as she then has to haul it home on the metro system. I had never really thought about all this before, as I live in a suburb and didn’t realize what a pain it must be to haul around a big heavy package like that on the train system.
The second person that I had a discussion with about online pet supply shopping was Carla, who runs the barn where both Yolande and I board our horses. I actually thought it kind of surprising to find out that Carla, who lives in a rustic little house, almost a cabin, and drives a tractor, did much of her animal supply shopping online. I guess I was kind of stereotyping her as being a Luddite, who would prefer “real” shopping versus virtual shopping. It turns out I was wrong.
Carla, who is a real nature lover, told me she bought a lot of her horse supplies, as well as a lot of wild bird supplies, such as bird houses, online. She likes the variety of things that she can find on the Internet, especially when it comes to special things for her beloved wildbirds.
In addition, like Yolande, Carla doesn’t live close to any pet stores or wild bird supply stores. The nearest such shops were about a 20-mile round trip that included some very bumpy dirt roads. With a laugh, Carla admitted that she much preferred having the UPS or USPS driver make the trip than having to do it herself. It not only saved her gas and her time, but also considerable wear and tear on her old car.
The third person who told me that they loved online shopping for pet supplies was the most surprising. My mother-in-law, Irene, who is in her 80s, is not exactly a wiz at using a computer, but she has done a really good job at adapting. She actually has a rudimentary Facebook page that she uses mainly to keep up with the grandchildren…anyway, I digress. Irene has found that the computer is an excellent way for her to shop for things for her dog and for the wildlife that populates her Illinois backyard.
Because of her age, Irene tries to avoid unnecessary driving, especially in the winter. Her hometown gets its fair share of rough weather, and her eyes and reaction time aren’t as good as they used to be, so she has found online shopping to be a Godsend. She loves birds and squirrels and has always kept her yard filled with squirrel and bird feeders and bird baths. Irene actually really worries that if she doesn’t feed her feathered and furry friends in the winter time that they might starve, so she makes it a point to keep the feeders as full as possible at all times.
Irene also has a big old Labrador mix that has been having trouble getting to its feet. A friend had advised her to get pet socks and possibly some pet paw wax for the Labrador’s feet to keep it from slipping on Irene’s hardwood floors. But when Irene called her local pet store to ask it if they carried those two items, the teenager who answered the phone could not answer the question and also sounded like he couldn’t be bothered to search for the items for her.
Frustrated by the store’s lack of response and worried for her dog, Irene decided to do an Internet search and was able to find both items online pretty quickly. In addition, she didn’t even have to pay tax on the items, which on her limited income, was a real bonus.
Like my friends and my mother-in-law, I’m a fan of internet pet supply shopping, as well. Also like them, I find it convenient and also enjoy the variety of items available on the Internet, and I can actually see a day in the not-too-distant future where I might actually be purchasing most of my animal supplies online.