Disclaimer: I am a Chewy.com Partner. However, My Kid Has Paws only shares content we believe our readers will find valuable. There are affiliate links throughout this blog post which we may benefit from financially.
Chewy.com arrived in our lives a few years ago, and I have recently identified a few ways this platform can make my life a lot simpler by saving me time, allowing me to leverage automation, and lastly, accommodating my natural procrastination tendencies (I’m looking at you two-day shipping).
In light of the New Year, I have spent significant time assessing my goals and evaluating the amount of time I waste. Specifically, I’m looking to exchange wasted time for more efficiency, automation, unencumbered free time, and time spent working on my goals. In addition to finding and “fixing” inefficiencies, I evaluated the opportunities, habits, and tools that already make life more simple, that I could leverage even further. One of the the pet-related platforms I identified as an opportunity to make my life more efficient is Chewy.com.
Helping Manage Responsibilities
To be clear, I love the responsibilities that are associated with pet ownership; the dog-walking, the exercise, and the companionship, not to mention the constant reminder to spend time in the present. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the other responsibilities that tend to take up space in my brain. When I feel overwhelmed, the thing that makes me feel better is to immediately look for inefficiencies, and subsequent opportunities, to create new habits, add new tools, or somehow improve our current way of doing things so that we can spend more time outside with Rooney.
After taking a look at Chewy.com, I wanted to share with you some of the ways we as pet parents can leverage this awesome platform to make our lives easier:
- Food automation: That’s right, you can set up a reoccurring food delivery on Chewy.com so that you don’t have to rush to the store before/after work to pick up your dog’s brand of dog food. Rooney eats a combination of Petcurean and The Farmer’s Dog. The Farmer’s Dog actually has it’s own reoccurring delivery option since the food is made fresh. However, Petcurean is only in a few stores in the Bay Area, so it’s soooo much easier for me to order directly from Chewy.
- Treat Automation: Rooney gets treats in a Kong every time we leave the house to distract him from the fact that we are leaving. Therefore, we can’t run out of treats. I also recently discovered that the price of the treats we buy for Rooney was more affordable on Chewy.com, which helps us stick to our monthly budget.
- Poop Bag Automation: Rooney poops approximately 2-3 times on every walk/hike/beach trip. He will poop in total 2-3 times a day without those activities, but if you take him out of the house he will 100% poop at least 2-3 additional times, it’s uncanny. Meaning, we can’t leave the house without poop bags, and we can’t run out either! Chewy thankfully carries the Earth Rated poop bags which are our favorite because they are compostable and lavender scented.
- Supplies: Last year my family was hit with a few unpleasant surprises, and it was really helpful to be able to order for my family member’s dogs whatever they needed directly through Chewy. If they needed more food, treats, poop bags, dog toys, dog ramps, dog booties, you name it, I could order it and have it delivered to their house, providing me a quick and easy way to help my family.
Accommodating the Procrastinators
I don’t want to be a procrastinator, and trust me, I am working on it! It’s actually been a lifelong project to stop procrastinating on the stuff I know I need to do. However, with Chewy.com by my side, and their amazing ability to ship the items I need within 24 hours, I am able to quickly place orders and know that the items will be at my house within 2 days. This feature is particularly convenient for pet parents who are already used to Amazon Prime.
What about the Local Shops?
I didn’t write this whole blog post without thinking about the local shops and small businesses. Supporting local shops and small businesses is important to me as well. I intentionally visit local pet shops in the Bay Area and buy Rooney new treats and dog toys to try. Honestly, most treats and dog toys don’t last that long in our house, so while we are never without them, I do switch it up and buy from local pet shops when the opportunity presents itself.
Additionally, I try to make decisions where I can to support local and small businesses. For example, Petcurean, which can be purchased through Chewy.com, is a family-owned Canadian business, and The Farmer’s Dog is a growing startup based in New York.
