The boys and I took off to the theater the other day to see the newest movie from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, The Secret Life of Pets. It was a great comedy for all-audiences, and I loved the mix of rebellious "flushed pets" versus the sweet pets. The fact that we too have a dog named "Max" really helped the boys relate to the movie as well. When the boys got home, they were just craving more of the lovable characters.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long for some movie-related fun at home. General Mills has teamed up with The Secret Life of Pets to bring six of the dynamic characters from the movie into your homes. General Mills Big G Cereals (Honey Nut Cheerios, Cheerios Multi Grain, Lucky Charms, Trix and Cocoa Puffs) feature free character collectibles, including: Max the pampered terrier mix, Duke the massive mutt, Snowball the leader of the flushed pets, Buddy the sarcastic dachshund, Gidget the naïve, but gutsy Pomeranian and Chloe the fat cat.




My two youngest boys tried their hand at creating a cardboard dog house and reenacting scenes from the film complete with the help of some of our furry family. With five dogs and a cat, we often wonder what goes on behind closed doors when we leave the house. We have a range of different personalities in our house. Little Bit is more of a Gidget, prim and proper on the outside, but feisty and a real leader when she needs to be, since she is the smallest in the house. 




Our Max is a happy go lucky dog who is absolutely devoted to his humans like the Max in the movie. Our cat Izzy is not as large as Chloe in the movie, but she too is grey and will easily dig into any food on the counters in the kitchen when left within her reach. Our pets are definitely on the mischievous side when we leave the house, with shoes, toys and occasionally couch pillows the victims of their play at times. 




Check out this adorable video of some real-life pets walking the green-grass carpet! Love that there is a dog that looks a lot like our Labradoodle in there too.


Want to have some fun with collectible characters from the movie yourself? You can pick up supplies like paint and cardboard houses at your local craft store, and collect all six characters in specially marked General Mills cereal boxes until the end of July while supplies last. They come with hangers attached making them the perfect addition to backpacks for the upcoming back-to-school season! 
Have you seen The Secret Life of Pets? What pets are your furry friends most like?

Disclaimer: Compensation was provided by General Mills via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of General Mills or Momtrends.