Beginning in the 1800s, increasing numbers of Americans valued pets as companions and associated them with happy family life, social status, and leisure.

Pet owners displayed their feelings by including pets in the special occasions of family life. They paid for or made their own portraits of their pets. They gave them proper burials at home; some people paid for plots in new pet cemeteries by the 1900s. At the same time, Americans began to include pets in holiday celebrations, including buying them Christmas gifts. Families made pet care and training part of their everyday housekeeping routines. They also played with their pets, teaching them tricks and improvising or purchasing toys just for them.