{"id":1808,"date":"2017-12-06T17:56:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T17:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/?p=1808"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:22:16","slug":"should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Give a Pet as a Gift this Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1807 size-full\" title=\"gifting a pet at christmas\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630.jpg\" alt=\"gifting a pet at christmas\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630-150x113.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With the holidays here, many people consider giving pets as presents. But is that really a smart idea? Before you decide on giving a pet as a gift, read on to learn what the experts think about the topic.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Is It a Good Idea to Give a Pet as a Gift?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We&#8217;ll be honest\u2014there are plenty of reasons that a pet at Christmas time is a bad idea. While we&#8217;re not saying you should\u00a0<em data-redactor-tag=\"em\">never<\/em>\u00a0give a pet as a gift, we will say that if you do, you should consider the idea very carefully first.<\/p>\n<p>To help you do that, let&#8217;s examine some of the reasons experts say you shouldn&#8217;t give pets as gifts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Holidays Are Hectic.<\/strong>\u00a0There&#8217;s so much going on at this time of year that for most people, it&#8217;s really not a great time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-you-get-a-cat-or-dog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to bond with and care for a new dog or cat<\/a>. Instead, it probably makes sense to wait until the gift recipient has plenty of free time to spend with their new furry friend.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brrrr&#8230;.<\/strong>Along those same lines, it&#8217;s cold outside! If you give someone a puppy in the winter, they&#8217;ll be spending lots and lots of time taking the dog outdoors until it&#8217;s housebroken. For that reason, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/10-ways-spring-with-dog\/\">spring is a much better time of year<\/a> for new pet ownership.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pets Shouldn&#8217;t Be Surprises<\/strong>. A pet is a lot of responsibility. Rather than springing that responsibility on someone unexpectedly, it&#8217;s far better to know they want a pet and are prepared to handle the responsibilities that ownership entails.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>What Should I Consider If I Do Decide to Give a Pet as a Gift?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you do opt to give a pet as a gift, the ASPCA offers up the following\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspca.org\/about-us\/aspca-policy-and-position-statements\/position-statement-pets-gifts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guidelines<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Only give a pet to someone who has expressed an interest in one and is responsible enough to care for it<\/li>\n<li>Obtain the pet from a reputable source\u2014a friend or family member, animal shelter, rescue organization, or a responsible breeder<\/li>\n<li>If the gift recipient is under the age of 12, the parents should be willing and able to assume responsibility for the pet<\/li>\n<li>Make sure the gift recipient has the type of lifestyle where they can raise and care for a new pet<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We also suggest that instead of offering up a pet on Christmas day, you give a stuffed animal instead and allow the recipient to pick out their pet on a less hectic day. Not only will this allow the pet to join the household on a calmer day, but it also means the pet recipient can choose their pet\u2014increasing the likelihood the bond will be a lifelong one.<\/p>\n<p>If you do decide give a pet as a present, please encourage the gift recipient to keep Pet Palace in mind! Many pet owners find that our well-staffed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/services\/doggy-day-care\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Doggie Day Care<\/a>\u00a0is the perfect solution for those days people can&#8217;t be home to play with their pets. We&#8217;re also pleased to offer\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/services\/\">dog and cat boarding services<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever gift you choose &#8211; pet or otherwise &#8211; we at Pet Palace wish you a happy holiday season!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the holidays here, many people consider giving pets as presents. But is that really a smart idea? Before you decide on giving a pet as a gift, read on to learn what the experts think about the topic. Is It a Good Idea to Give a Pet as a Gift? We&#8217;ll be honest\u2014there are&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\"><strong>Read More<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holidays"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should I Give a Pet as a Gift this Christmas? | Pet Palace | Pet Boarding Resort<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do pets make good Christmas presents? It depends. Learn what the experts think and what you need to consider before buying one.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lora Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lora Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#\/schema\/person\/115f43fac68a9d0fc960ed2c8f935a87\"},\"headline\":\"Should I Give a Pet as a Gift this Christmas?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-06T17:56:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T19:22:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\"},\"wordCount\":530,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Holidays\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/\",\"name\":\"Should I Give a Pet as a Gift this Christmas? | Pet Palace | Pet Boarding Resort\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/should-i-give-a-pet-as-a-gift-this-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/christmas-doggies-1443630.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-06T17:56:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T19:22:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do pets make good Christmas presents? 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But is that really a smart idea? Before you decide on giving a pet as a gift, read on to learn what the experts think about the topic. Is It a Good Idea to Give a Pet as a Gift? We&#8217;ll be honest\u2014there are...&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3997,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions\/3997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}