One of my favorite things about being on the FooCrew is our “unwritten” perk – we’re allowed to bring our pets to work with us if we want. Some of us bring them in occasionally but a few of our pets actually come to the office everyday. The FooCrew puts in a lot of hours so letting us bring our pets in gives us much needed bonding time.

While not everyone can bring their pets to work, spending time with them is very important for their overall emotional health. Building a trusted relationship based on sincere, wholehearted love forms a bond that is truly unique – both in the life of the animal and the owner. It does take time and commitment but there are lots of easy things you can do with your pets that help them form a strong attachment with your “pack”. (more…)

For the FooCrew, Halloween is a favorite occasion we all look forward to. And believe me, we take it very seriously! The kind of “seriously” that involves dressing up our furry friends in elaborate costumes. We also like to share our creativity which means we proudly engage our pets in Halloween activities such as public appearances and participation in a wide variety of contests. There are a lot of fun Halloween things to do with your pets this time of year so don’t be too “spooked” to get the leash out and join in.

This year, we wanted to bring a little of our Halloween spirit to FooPets and help everyone get their scare on. For a limited time, we’ve “dressed up” our Heart Park and transformed it into a creepy landscape your brave FooPet will want to explore.

Dress your FooPets up in their favorite costumes and go play in the Halloween Park. Sound scary? You bet – right down to the hidden ghosts, tumbling jack-o-lanterns, tombstones and special sound effects. But what’s Halloween without some treats to go with your trick? In this park, it’s a race against time while your pets search for glowing candy corns and other lost and lonely treats. Think your FooPet can collect them all before time runs out? Only the clock will tell! But don’t forget to give it a try soon because this ghoulish game will be gone in a skeleton’s heartbeat – right after October 31st!

Happy Halloween!

FooCrew Lynne

Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a great story about the request for new scientific studies exploring the health benefits of companion animals. The article discusses the affect the interaction between humans and animals can have on development and health and whether this interaction has therapeutic and public health benefits.

As most of you probably know, the original idea for FooPets – very realistic looking and behaving virtual puppies and kittens – came from the imagination of our very own veterinarian, Dr. Ron. Having lots of experience with the love, devotion, and emotional attachment shared between people and their pets, Dr. Ron strongly believed realistic virtual pets could bring a similar strong bond of pet ownership online.

Now while the NYT story focuses on studies about real-world pets, one could ask whether any possible health benefits experienced through the bond of pet ownership might also be experienced from a virtual pets environment? We hear from users all the time about how they consider their FooPets a part of the family and how much they enjoy caring for them.

Given the lack of current scientific studies incorporating virtual pets experiences into research, it could be a very long time before we know for sure whether the same kinds of health benefits can be derived from online interaction with virtual pets compared to real pets.

We do know this information as a starting point, though. Several of our users have shared their personal experiences with FooPets and the emotional benefits they have received. We have been contacted by parents/grandparents teaching their kids about pets; people who are bedridden due to illness or injuries; parents who are caring for children with disabilities; people who live alone or feel isolated; and even people who can’t have real pets because their living arrangements won’t allow for them.

Regardless of the specific situation, the response to FooPets from these users is very similar. They express how much they enjoy their FooPets, how happy their pets make them, and how much they love to see them at feeding or play time. In some cases, we’ve been told that FooPets give something to look forward to, something to help cure blues, or something positive at the end of a tough day. This kind of feedback is especially rewarding for the FooCrew and we’re very thankful our users have shared their stories with us.

I think most would agree we don’t necessarily need scientific research to tell us that a lot of satisfaction and joy comes from caring for our pets. Whether real or virtual, the wag/swish of a tail, sound of a playful bark/meow, or an enthusiastic chase of a favorite toy can be all it takes to make any day a little brighter.

FooCrew Lynne

We recently launched a new FooPets Feedback Forum and have been getting a lot of suggestions from awesome FooPets owners who have great ideas to share. One cool idea that came in was to sell pre-paid FooDollar cards and make them available in popular retail outlets. Well, we’re happy to announce we just took this feature live!

You can now buy an Ultimate Game Card in $10 and $20 face values at thousands of retails stores – including all 7-11s, Rite-Aids, and Toys-R-Us locations – and redeem them in our FooBank for FooDollars. For every $1 USD on your card, we will give you 10 FooDollars in exchange. For more information on Ultimate Game Cards, click here.

With all the ideas come in, we’ve got a lot of cool new features in the works. Thanks to everyone for helping us out and please keep the suggestions coming in!

FooCrew Lynne