OCTOBER

1 Whether as station mascots or arson investigators, celebrate the dogs who serve alongside firefighters on NATIONAL FIRE PUP DAY. Bring a gift basket to your local station, offer them free self-washes or treats, and/or simply praise these hard-working dogs on your socials. They are very good boys and girls!

1 ADOPT-A-SHELTER-DOG MONTH is a great time to revisit how you partner with local animal shelters. Do you offer a goodie bag or other incentives that adopters receive? Are your efforts bringing in new customers? Astro Loyalty’s Sharing the Love program provides free product bundles for adopters to pick up at your store, at no cost to you. More than 50% of adopters who redeem these rewards are new customers, Astro reports. Bonus: Only indies have access to the program.

9 Firehouse Pet Shop in Wenatchee, WA, builds on the success of its free-to-use pet scale by adding weight-tracking cards that come with reward coupons for when pets meet their goals. On NATIONAL PET OBESITY AWARENESS DAY, follow the store’s lead. Jennifer and Allen Larsen recommend customers consult their veterinarian to determine the ideal weight for an individual pet, but stand ready to provide food, treat and other recommendations. In January, they even invited a mobile dog gym to set up outside the store to provide live demonstrations and exercise advice.

15 On NATIONAL MUSHROOM DAY, promote the ingredient’s health benefits for pets with educational posts on your socials and product samples in your store — Michele Saharic of Barkley’s Marketplace in Flemington, NJ, serves mushroom and goat milk lattes to pups with regular lattes for their people.

31 Photos with Santa are always a big hit with customers, so why not add a character to your HALLOWEEN sessions? Debra Sullivan of Jackson’s Place Unleashed Pet Resort in Houston, TX, does exactly that. In 2023, team member Abraham Razo dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein and posed with pets in front of a spooky castle-inspired backdrop. Sullivan designs the sets, directs Razo and takes the photos herself, creating a nice revenue stream at $55 a 15-minute session over two full days. And the photos turn out amazing! This year, the Halloween theme will be Mad Hatter. We can’t wait to see those pics!

NOVEMBER

1 During NATIONAL SENIOR PET MONTH and ADOPT A SENIOR PET MONTH, celebrate these special dogs, cats, birds, reptiles … you name it! The opportunities are endless. Last year, Dogs by Design in Irwin, PA, raised funds and collected products for Gray Paws Sanctuary. Nature’s Feed in Spring Grove, IL, offered 15% off select items for senior pets. And Premium Pets in Jefferson City, MO, held a Senior Dog meetup. Share tips, recommend senior products, ask customers to share photos on your socials, do anything that helps pets in this life stage.

6 On NATIONAL ADVENT CALENDAR DAY, do a hard push on these seasonal products to ensure they don’t linger well into December. A Barkery Unleashed in Marysville, WA, shares this add-on tip: Bundle with additional treats for multi-dog customers who don’t want to buy more than one calendar. The bakery offers up its bags of broken cookies, offering a solution for these pet parents and the store.

28 Want to offer a THANKSGIVING DAY meal for your customers without having to cook? Follow the lead of The Hipster Hound in Savannah, GA. In 2023, Kristen Watson and her team set a table featuring an array of foods and treats that pet parents could put into a branded Thanksgiving Bowl and take home. Among the goodies were Primal’s Turkey & Sardine Freeze Dried Nuggets, Gaines Family Farmstead’s Sweet Potato Bones and K9 Granola Factory’s Green Bean Chips, with Primal’s Cranberry Blast Goat Milk as one of the hydration options in separate containers. Customers could create a bowl for their dog or cat during Thanksgiving week for free thanks to brand support. Watson reports that the bowls led to additional sales of products included!

30 This year brings double the opportunity on SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY, as November has five Saturdays. Go all out by combining your Fifth Saturday Sale offerings with those for the national marketing initiative. And to create even further FOMO with your customers, let them know there won’t be another fifth Saturday until March 2025!

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