And the Award Goes to…
by Michael Schaffer

I’m not the Carpetbagger and it’s not the Oscars, but here are a couple of sets of awards for best new pet products appearing at last week’s Global Pet Expo. The American Pet Products Association and the Pet Industry Distributors Association, who put on the expo, organized their awards by both animal (ie dogs, cats, aquatic) and retail (ie gift, point-of-purchase) categories. Their winners included the R2 Fish School “complete fish training system” and the Polly Wanna Pinata bird toy n’ treat. Multi-media veterinarian Marty Becker and his team from Pet Connection picked out a quirkier set of winners, including the Frolicat Bolt Laser Light (”keeps your cat and dog active indoors”) and something called “Avian Habitat Enrichment Pods.”

Speaking at the expo, Marty also reiterated–well, iterated, probably, since he was surely on it before I ever was–a theme I hit in my book, which is amazement at the number of products that promise to enrich your pet’s brain. When I wrote my chapter about the rapid growth of the pet-toy sector, where all sorts of technological and learning-theory energy have been aimed at the problem that is America’s millions of latch-key dogs, I thought of the interactive toymakers I profiled as selling something that was more or less an insurance policy for your sofa. Better for the dog to exhaust himself playing with the Starmark Everlasting Treat Ball, a physically and mentally complicated puzzle that eventually disgorges lunch, than to wolf down food left in a bowl and then destroy the couch because he’s so bored all afternoon. I still think that remains a large part of it–it’s no surprise that pet toys became such a must-have just as two-career couples became the norm, leash laws made it tougher to let the pooch wander the streets all day, and people stopped frowning on you for leaving the dog alone. But I’ve also become a dad since finishing that chapter, and I suspect that the promises of ensuring that you have the brightest parakeet or goldfish on the block are also a reward in and of themselves. Baby Einstein isn’t just for babies anymore.