The Virtual Pet Park 2025 Recap

An image of a black dog sitting outside in front of a flowery bush wearing a colorful bandana next to a separate image of a tan cat and a black cat hugging while lying in a cat bed, with the two photos displayed under banner text that reads, 'THE VIRTUAL PET PARK 2025 RECAP'.

We began the Virtual Pet Park as a place for Taste of the Wild fans to share photos of their pets, and we’re thrilled that hundreds of photos of cats and dogs were shared this year. Check out our recap of “2025 in the VPP,” where we highlight some fun facts and share super cute pics from the Virtual Pet Park.

Who’s Been Playing in the Virtual Pet Park? 

First, let’s take a look at which pets were spotted playing in the park. Were they dogs or cats? What breed were they? What was their favorite Taste of the Wild recipe? The answers await!

The Dog Pack

It’s obvious that dog parents love sharing photos of their canine companions; with about two thirds of the submitted photos featuring dogs. Fun fact: the most common dog names were Bailey, Cooper, Daisy, Finn, Piper and Willow.

It’s not surprising that there were many mixed-breed dogs or those of unknown breed in the Virtual Pet Park — who doesn’t love a mutt?! Other breeds that were common in the park included Labrador retrievers, Australian shepherds, Siberian huskies and golden retrievers. But we also saw visits from less common breeds — and some had hard-to-pronounce names! They were:

  • Ipa the Basenji (pronounced buh-sen-jee)
  • Shay the Berger Picard (pronounced bare-zhay pee-char)
  • Vinny the Belgian sheepdog
  • Jackie the Czechoslovakian Vlcak (pronounced check-slow-vaa-kee-an vul-chuck).
A collage of four photographs showing a small brown and white dog lying on a patio, a scruffy terrier mix on a rocky hillside, three Collie-type dogs sitting together on a hillside, and a wolf-like gray and tan dog standing in a park at sunset.

The Cat Crew

If you’re curious about cats in the Virtual Pet Park, they were featured in about one third of the photos. Like dogs, most of the cats were of unknown or mixed breeds, or they were one of the domestic breeds. But we also had some rare breeds in the park, including Mochi Love the Snowshoe and Rylee the Siberian.

A split image showing two cats, a short-haired brown and white cat with blue eyes on the left, and a fluffy orange long-haired cat sitting on a red chair on the right.

The Fluff and Tumble Squad

The Virtual Pet Park had some very cute newbies in 2025. These pups and kittens may be some of the youngest park visitors, but they still made a big impression!

A collage of four photographs featuring a small brown puppy sitting outside in the snow, a black and tan dog wearing a harness while lying in green grass, a small orange and white kitten lying in a pile of blankets, and a white and black spotted dog lying comfortably on a brown couch.

The Adventurerers

We love seeing our fans roaming around in the wild! Whether it’s at the beach, up in the mountains or in the woods, it’s amazing to see what adventures our pet park friends get up to.

A collage of four photographs featuring a tan dog wearing a green collar while running through shallow water, a white and black spotted dog wearing a red vest and solar eclipse glasses while standing outside in the sun, a black dog sitting on large rocks with rolling hills in the background, and a white and black long-haired cat sitting in the woods surrounded by green foliage.

The Kitchen Favorites 

Playing in the park can make any cat or dog hungry, so we dug around and found out the favorite recipes of the pets who visited the Virtual Pet Park this year. For our feline friends, Taste of the Wild PREY® Angus Beef Limited Ingredient Recipe for Cats, Canyon River® Feline Recipe with Trout and Salmon in Gravy and Taste of the Wild PREY® Turkey Limited Ingredient Recipe for Cats were the favorites. Our dog friends must love salmon as the most popular recipes for dogs were Pacific Stream® Canine Recipe with Smoke-Flavored Salmon, Ancient Stream® Canine Recipe with Smoke-Flavored Salmon and Pacific Stream® Puppy Recipe with Smoke-Flavored Salmon.

A close-up of an orange and white tabby cat sitting on a kitchen floor next to a bag of Canyon River Feline Recipe with Trout & Smoke-Flavored Salmon.

We hope you have enjoyed our recap of the Virtual Pet Park visitors over the past year. Keep posting those adorable pics and come back often to see who else is in the Virtual Pet Park!