• by December 9, 2004

It seems like the nation's pets are barking up the right tree this holiday season, so to speak. According to the new Yahoo! Shopping Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, consumers consider their four-legged friends as "loved ones" around the holiday time, and 29 percent of adults plan to buy their pets a gift.

Pets with female owners will have cause to wag their tails this season, as 36 percent of women will buy their pets holiday gifts, and 20 percent of men will do the same.

Other groups receiving something special this year include mail carriers and neighbors (15 percent). Nearly one in four (23 percent) adults will buy gifts for their co-workers, and 11 percent will even buy their boss a present.

On the family front, 96 percent of adults will buy gifts for relatives this season. Adults in the Northeast say parents are the hardest to find gifts for, while those in the South and Midwest claim the toughest gift decisions are for spouses and significant others.

The survey found that, despite NBC's "Friends" taking place in New York City, more gift givers in the West seem to be prioritizing their gift-giving toward friends, with 64 percent planning to buy holiday gifts for friends this season.

In general, 56 percent of consumers think holiday shopping is "fun, exciting, or celebratory," while 36 percent feel it is exhausting or stressful. Sixty-one percent of holiday gift givers are taking some of their shopping online this year.

The biggest advantages consumers saw, according to the survey, for using an online comparison-shopping Web site were side-by-side product comparisons, discount offers, and the ability to conduct a product search for all products available on the Internet.

Not surprisingly to me, the survey reported 45 percent of U.S. adults who plan to holiday shop for someone this season typically end up buying something for themselves as well. I am definitely included in that percentage, and my furry feline, Schuyler, is currently enjoying her eight nights of Chanukah.