Making food for pets is a great family activity that children will look forward to. Encourage them to help find the recipes and keep notes. You may also want to make a pet food and treat binder to keep track of the recipes your pets love the most.

1. Baking For Pets

The trend of baking and making homemade treats for pets is on the rise, and personally I am pretty happy about this trend. Offering nutritious and delicious goodies will help keep us fit and fine and is a great hobby for families to spend time in the kitchen. There is also a new focus on pet-safe ingredients like pumpkin, peanut butter, and oats. Baking for pets has never been easier—or more fun. This growing hobby highlights a desire for control over what every pet eats, ensuring pet food, treats and snacks are free from artificial additives and ingredients that cause allergies, while being packed with healthy and wholesome goodness.

Taking it to the next level, explore pet food storage options, kitchen gadgets perfect for homemade pet goodies from paw print cookie cutters to dog bone waffle makers and from silicone treat molds and of course pet-themed aprons, and a growing number of dog and cat cookbooks that help you find the perfect recipes for your pet. Browse online pet food recipes like this Homemade Dog Food Recipe from the Martha Blog with step by step photos.

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Gather pet-friendly travel gear to make day trips, road trips and even life in the RV for pets and people more enjoyable. Consider creating a small pet corner to give pets their own space while on the open road.

2. Road Trips for Pets and People

Spending time on the road with pets is a wonderful hobby to embark on in 2025. With pet airfare fees on the rise, frequent flight delays, and lengthy flight options, travel by road with pets is a perfect way to see the countryside, explore great places, and spend time with pets. Road trip travel with pets is becoming easier, which means we can tag along on almost any trip. There are pet-friendly hotels in just about every town, more RV parks are welcoming pets, and innovation in pet travel gear is making road trips with pets a breeze.

According to MegaTech Insights pet travel will continue to trend through 2035 letting us know that this is a long-term trend we are very excited about, no more sitting by the window watching the family pull away on summer adventures. Road tripping is also growing stronger as airline travel with pets continues to rise in costs and regulations.

Planning the trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself, exploring pet friendly stops from restaurants and hotels to parks and campgrounds. We love the website Roadtrippers.com to plan and follow on every road trip. Whether you are traveling in the RV, family car, or on a motorcycle, road trips are a great hobby with pets.

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Try different water sports with pets to find the right hobby for everyone. Many boating and water sports do not require pets to get wet, while others are all about swimming and water play.

3. Water Sports With Pets

Water sports is a growing market filled with many water and boating hobbies that are ideal for pets and people. While the name water sports indicates an activity in or around the water, many of them do not actually require pets to be able to swim or enjoy the water.

Finding the right water sport to begin a new hobby starts with some research. Watch some videos, read a few blogs, and then find the right equipment to help you get started. It is important to note that not all pets including many dog breeds do not naturally swim or even like to swim and some simply cannot swim. If you want to pursue an in the water sport, it is important to make sure your pet is comfortable swimming and also that you size them for a pet floatation device they should wear at all times.

Sports on or near the water are a great way to spend time with pets, but take it slow and allow your pet to get used to the water, the equipment and the sport itself. Choose waterproof collars, leashes, and equipment to ensure your pet has just what they need and pack extra towels, water, and even a brush to make sure pets are dried and groomed after play.

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Create a space for pets in the garden with pet-friendly plants, a cool place for naps and access to water for warm days to ensure pets stay hydrated and safe in the garden.

4. Gardening For and With Pets

As more people across the country plant vegetable gardens, flower cutting gardens, and natural flower beds, the trend to include pets in the hobby grows. We are seeing dedicated pet garden spaces with pet-friendly food and plants, growing vegetables for making homemade food and creating spaces for pets and people to enjoy outdoors.

This is a great hobby for pets who enjoy the outdoors, especially when they can do it with the people they love. It is important to make sure both dogs and cats have the right protection against fleas, ticks and other bugs and also that indoor cats and small pets are safe from larger critters. Southern Living outlines the right plants for pets in their article Best and Worst Plants For A Pet-Friendly Garden. Browse pet friendly cookbooks to find ingredients you can grow at home and then add them to pet-friendly recipes for food and snacks.

Add time in the garden to your daily routine with pets which will help keep your garden manicured and your pets will have a new adventure to look forward to. We love the focus on creating outdoor pet-friendly spaces. Here is a great YouTube Video Landscaping Spaces for Dogs by the Backyard Design Guy that will inspire you as you create the perfect space for your pet home.

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Music is a wonderful hobby to share with pets, not all pets will embrace the same tunes you love and party of the journey is finding music that speaks to everyone and then music that is collective.

5. Music With Pets

Do pets like listening to music? The answer is yes, but they actually do have an opinion on the music style they enjoy and in general classical is calming and heavy metal can even agitate dogs according to American Kennel Club. If you are thinking about learning an instrument, writing music, or making playlists for road trips, hikes or every day, your pet will love it too!

If you love music why not consider making playlists that are specifically for dog walks, pet playtime or just hanging with your pets. Apple Music, Spotify or Amazon have options that allow you to build playlists you can create, edit and play anytime from your Smartphone, Alexa or other media device. You can listen to our Wild Love Tails Playlist on Apple to see what we created.

Another fun musical hobby you can give a try at is creating your own music with AI. Brev.AI is a free service to create your own music. Create lyrics that express your pet’s personality, how you feel about them or to remember fun adventures with your pets. Writing a song about your aging pet that you will have forever is a special hobby to embark on that will be a lifelong memory you will cherish or an incredible gift for pet-lovers who lose their beloved pets.

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Life under the stars creates amazing memories for pets and people. Blending hobbies including hiking, water sports or fishing with camping make your new adventures with pets even better.

6. Camping and Overlanding With Pets

If camping is your thing, allowing pets to tag along will expand the experience beyond expectations, but if you are new to tent camping, overlanding, or RV camping this is a great new hobby with pets you will want to explore. Gone are the days when campsites did not welcome pets. While not all do, many more camp sites have become pet-friendly. Do your homework before embarking on your journey just to be safe.

The time of year you intend to begin your new hobby will take on different equipment, preparation and timeframe. Our Pet Camping Shops is a great place to browse plenty of pet gear to help you prepare for your first adventure.

A few things to keep in mind are safety, warmth, and hydration. When pets are in a new environment. it may take them a bit of time to get acclimated. A test run in the backyard is not a bad idea before an extended camping adventure. To keep pets safe, choose a tent with plenty of room for pets to sleep nearby, grab a runner that you can attach your pet’s leash to keep them close by, and choose a GPS or Smart collar that will allow you to track your pet if they do head out on their own.

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Including pets in your current or new fitness adventure is a way to spend more time especially when you have time to fit exercise into your busy schedule.

7. Fitness With Pets

As we work hard to be healthy and fit, it is time to include our pets into our favorite hobby or embark on a new fitness regiment with pets in tow. So often we think about fitness for certain breeds of dogs, but all dogs and even cats enjoy playtime, running around and a little bit of movement.

Providing pets a way to stretch their legs, build muscle, and increase their agility will help them lead a happier and healthier life. It is also critical to check with your veterinarian before starting a new fitness regiment to make sure your pet is ready to take on the new hobby. Consider trying yoga, pilates, weightlifting, and general exercise by mixing in a few moves where pets can participate to make it fun.

There are many ways to include pets into a fitness routine from running beside you on the bike to riding in a basket as you do the work; agility training course where you run along the course; or tossing the football across the field. If you enjoy the activity, there are many ways to include your pets, even if they are not able to exert extreme fitness. The Dogs That YouTube Channel video makes it very clear that exercising with dogs makes a huge difference.

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Unleash your creativity and learn how to paint, create sculptures or paper craft with your pet as your muse.

8. Pet Painting and Crafting

For those who are ready to let their creativity loose, consider taking a class online or in person to learn painting, pottery, sculpting, knitting, paper crafts, quilting, and more. Your pets make perfect models, or use your creative side to capture memories, photos and stories that you will have forever.

Add a pet bed close to your easel or plan a trip to the park and set up to draw or paint the landscape around you. Once you learn the basics of watercolor, drawing or mixed media, you can unleash her creativity and bring your pets to life for yourself or add a pice to your pet home or give the gift to others by capturing pets in your personal creative style. There are so many great YouTube videos to help hone in on your personal art style like this video with a focus on How To Paint Pet Fur.

If art is not your thing, but you love it, consider photography, working with an artist to capture your pet or create a photo book filling it with poems, stories or memories. Open your file of images in your phone and start at the beginning capturing even the special moments you have already forgotten.

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Capture your pet’s personality, special events, milestones, training and even sleeping to help you never forget those special moments.

9. Pet Photography

Photography is a great hobby that continues to be accessible to everyone with the amazing cameras on Smartphones and with great technology in smaller personal phones. For those ready to jump in with both feet consider a professional style camera with removable lenses, digital or film. This hobby can be for personal use or make it a business offering to take photos for friends or the community.

Seek a photography class that focuses on the basics of photography, providing you with settings, how to set up the camera to take the photo style you desire, and to learn what you can about your camera. You might find a class locally that is dedicated to pet photography or request a private lesson from a local photographer to learn their tricks as you create your niche for your pet or to photograph other pets.

Practice your skills at your next pet or people party with a photo booth, offering pet portraits or just capturing the special moments. To get really creative consider doing stylized shots for the holidays, special events or at parties. Checkout the Pawrade.com website for great tips on photographing pets, fun pictures to peruse.

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Take a hike is sounding more popular than ever with more trails, places to explore and local events that are now pet-friendly. Check before you go and don’t forget the poo bags to keep the trails the way you found them.

10. Pet Hiking and Backpacking

Exploring the great outdoors is a very popular hobby and now most hiking trails welcome pets. Not all hikes have to be on the trails or in the mountains, they can be in town, around the neighborhood or even in a parade. We know that dog walking is one of the oldest hobbies between man and pet, but we are seeing it taken to a new level with organized scavenger hunts, overnight hikes and even group hikes with pets.

Not only does this offer great exercise to pets and people it is a way to get out of the house and enjoy the world around you. It is very important to go prepared with plenty of pet potty supplies, water, and the right equipment based on your hiking plans.

Choose new places to explore, create your own scavenger hunt and for dogs who are built for it, pack their backpack with poo bags, a ball, and maybe a few treats. There are wonderful of pet carrier backpacks that make walking with cats, rabbits, and other small pets possible. There are great resources for finding pet friendly trails like The Hiker Pup Blog.

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