Laura Bennett, who is the CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance and blogs at the Embrace Pet Insurance Blog, shares her views on what 2010 will be like for the pet industry. This is her fifth year writing about pet industry trends, and 2010 doesn’t look all that bad, especially considering the general economic conditions in 2009.

She sees the pet services area continuing to grow, which is obviously good news for pet sitters, and dog walkers, and specifically mentions dog daycares.

Pet parents are including their pets in their own lifestyles so visits to the spa, exercise regimes, and restaurants have become more common in urban areas. With the recession and decline of investment capital, my impression is that the number of day care accommodations are growing in number more modestly than prior to the recession; however, the business of doggie day cares continues to be a profitable one.

Even though Laura doesn’t single out pet sitters and dog walkers, it stands to reason that as the economy improves people will begin traveling more or will find jobs and will need these services once again.

Social media isn’t going anywhere and businesses that want to thrive will need to get actively involved sooner rather than later. This is something Laura writes about as well.

Social networking was not new in 2009 but the successes of the early adopters such as @PetsitUSA and @petrelocation are driving more and more pet businesses online. Pet-related small business owners have always known the power of numbers and are turning online to get noticed, one shopper or one business partner at a time, on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Many rescue organizations are using social networking as part of their funding drives such as the ASPCA and The Humane Society.

She also mentions this blog, Pet Connection, Doolittler, and Alltop Pets as providing “high quality commentary on all aspects of pet news and issues, and are expanding their reach and depth across the pet web.”

You can read Laura’s entire article, Pet Industry Trends for 2010 at Small Business Trends.

Unlike some other industries that haven’t weathered as well, the pet industry has at least proven, as Laura says, to be recession resistant. And, as the economy starts growing again, I think we’ll see more options for pet owners in terms of goods and services.

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