Unique pet loss gifts
I'm one of the crazy humans that has a dog Instagram page and, worse than that, it's in the voice of a dog (the haters can hate all they want, but when I was focused on that page, I received free products galore, ha!).It started way back in 2013 when my oldest son wanted an Instagram account when he was 13. For better or worse, I allowed it but I wanted to make sure I understood it.
I opened both a personal account for myself and a dog page for our Weimaraner, Pete.
When we lost our beloved pet, Pete
I used Pete's page to really learn and understand Instagram. A few years later, our beloved dog Pete passed on.
When he passed the first thing I wanted to do was make sure my photos of him were preserved forever. I saved these special memories to two external hard drives.
The photos were everything.
Six months later, our family wanted a new puppy.
In 2017 an Australian Labradoodle named Oscar joined our family, a sassy dog who took over Pete's page, which became @oscardoodlepdx.
Oscar was joined four years later by a second labradoodle named Snoop.
My dogs and I acquired 6300 followers and, more importantly, we follow over 4000 dog pages. When you follow and interact with pets from a huge array of social media pages, you have an inside look at the needs and wants of dog parents.
A story about grieving owners who recently lost a young golden retriever put me on a quest to create the best possible dog sympathy gifts.
I was scrolling through Instagram stories on my @the_vervebar account when I was saw a story that made me freeze.
One of my most loyal business followers (a pup account) posted that a 3-year-old golden retriever named Benny was critically ill and everyone should support his family.
Reconnecting with Benny.
Benny looked familiar and I recognized his account name. I went to Oscar's page and, sure enough, I followed Benny.
When you follow thousands of accounts, certain pages float in and out of your feed, it's impossible to keep track of all.
Benny and Oscar's pages had drifted apart but, as I scrolled the feed, I instantly remembered this family.
I was taken by this account. The page has the most beautiful images of this golden and young couple, including the sweetest video of Benny in their wedding ceremony.
I was glued to the story and couldn't stop thinking about them.
Two days later they announced that Benny had passed over the rainbow bridge.
My heart sunk and I felt sick for this family, even more-so when I learned Benny's mom was pregnant with their first child.
It's heartbreaking to witness any grieving pet owner, but the fact that she was pregnant made this so much sadder.
Each morning when I checked Insta, I opened Benny's stories first. I didn't know them personally but watching them grieve was heart-wrenching.
I couldn't get this family out of my mind.
The stories of love from their followers flooded them with pet sympathy gifts, including stones, posts, and flowers. It was amazing to watch.
I thought back and wondered what I would have considered the most thoughtful gift to honor Pete, who we considered a family member.
Popular pet memorial gifts.
Paw prints and an engraved memorial stone are nice, but grieving pet owners need more.
The answer was simple: gifts with photos are perfect for those who lose their pet.
This gave me an idea: a collection of personalized memorial gifts in the form of a pet loss sympathy basket.
I brainstormed the best gifts to commemorate losing a pet who was a beloved family member.
I decided on a Pet Memory Basket; personalized photo gifts for loss of a pet.
After a week of searching gift options (straight down the Google rabbit hole of "pet memorial gifts,") I decided the pet loss gift basket would include: a photo stone slate plaque, a silver plated necklace pendant and chain, magnets, an iron-on patch, a lapel pin, ceramic ornament, and a bag tag.
Whether purchased as a gift or by the owner, I wanted to create the best pet/animal tribute gift set.
Benny's story was the inspiration for creating this product.
I reached out to Meg, Benny's mom, and told her that I was going to start this new line. I asked if she was OK with me using Benny's images for the sample basket and images on my site.
I requested a large variety of photos of both Benny alone and the family together. The photos she sent were incredible; they were excellent quality.
Most importantly, the photos told the story of Benny's amazing life.
Meg was so excited that I decided to make her the planned sympathy gifts, but also include a few surprise extras (not included in the gift basket):
What was Meg's reaction to the gift basket? The screenshot it below. In this case, "ugly crying" was the best compliment I could have received.
The Pet Memory Gift Basket led me to also create a "New Puppy/Gotcha Day" Basket, a "Dog Birthday Basket," and a "Dog Mom Gift Basket."
The expanded line of pet gift baskets and dog gift boxes will be ready soon. I'm rolling them out one at a time so follow Instagram for updates! @the_vervebar . In today’s world, many people opt for dogs instead of children. They want to celebrate them just like any other parent would want to celebrate their human child.
Ten years of following thousands of dog social media accounts and interacting with hundreds of pet parents gave me the inspiration for what products they would love to see in gift sets.
Products will change seasonally so the contents will always be fresh. Many baskets will also include an option for personalized pet gifts too!
Simple comments and shares on social media can be more meaningful than you can imagine. Join me in sending love to Benny’s parents: @staygolden.bennyboy
Follow us on Instagram for announcements of when new box sets, baskets, and other new products will be added to our shop!