Q: “Denise, I love love love animals! I am crazy for them. Especially dogs. I non-apologetically have dog hair on my pants, it is in my car and if my clients have a dog, they are welcome to come along on showings (not in the house of course). I love my clients, but I really love their dogs! I know this is silly, but I want to get the dogs a closing gift. What do you think?”

First of all, I don’t think you are crazy. I have five dogs myself and a goose that thinks he is my pet, so I understand where you are coming from. I love the idea of a closing gift for your clients’ dog so long as you have a gift for their people as well.

Since it can be several weeks before people think about changing the address on the dog tag, I would start there. Stores like Petsmart have the tag engravers so you create a new tag with the new address. New toys to preoccupy dogs so they are distracted from the stress of boxes being moved around are also usually a good bet. You can put together a nice pet basket with the tag, toys, and even a few treats!

I would also include a special flyer on some information for pet owners with information on local pet supply stores, vets, emergency pet care, pet sitters, off leash parks, local rules and regulations, etc for people who are moving from out of the area as well as a reminder to update any chip information (good for every pet owner to remember)!