While many industries found themselves hit for six, local businesses which dealt in the care and upkeep of pets instead experienced a boom last year.

This time last year, Molong-based brothers Carl and Nigel Sandeman had just launched their premium dog food subscription service Fetched when COVID-19 reared its ugly head.

In the subsequent weeks and months, instead of the financial blow they were expecting, the brothers watched COVID-19 turbocharge the growth of online retail.

"The uptake in online shopping could not have been better timed for the launch of Fetched," said Carl Sandeman.

"While we knew that Australians were becoming more receptive to online shopping and that it was the best approach for our business model, this rapid change in consumer behaviour is so valuable for us."

As the brothers celebrate the first anniversary of Fetched this month, its hard not to appreciate the completely unexpected positive impact COVID-19 meant for their gourmet dogfood.

According to data from industry analysts IBISWorld, pet food production is worth $2.6 billion a year in Australia - with that figure projected to balloon to $2.8 billion by 2026, as pet owners increasingly opt for gourmet food over the cheaper stuff found in supermarket aisles.

The data also showed that online retail has been particularly beneficial for the industry, with sales of pet food and toys growing 17.9 percent year on year since 2015.

In addition to consumers changing their shopping habits in light of the pandemic, the Sandeman brothers attributed the boost to their own sales to the fact dog ownership had "skyrocketed" in 2020.

"With many people restricted to their homes and reduced human interaction, there was a substantial uptake in new pet owners which in turn was beneficial for our business by simply increasing the number of pet owners seeking pet food," Carl Sandeman said.

But it's not just online businesses in the pet industry that have seen people splurging more on pets as a result of the pandemic.

Professional dog groomer Kerrie Williams of Oodles of Style has been involved in the pet industry for the past 30 years. Since early 2020 she has been "flat-out" and even has a waiting list.

"I'm just so much busier. I've stopped having a day off. I used to have days off," she laughed.

"So many more people are buying pets for company and now that they're working from home they're also wanting their dogs a bit cleaner. So many more dogs have their own Instagram pages. They're participating in Zoom meetings so hence it makes it busier for myself."

Like the Sandeman brothers, Mrs Williams expected that people being more restricted in their movements throughout 2020 had contributed to them having more of a disposable income to spend on their pets.

For Mrs Williams, whose parents owned dog boarding kennels while she was growing up before she herself moved into the pet industry, the change she's witnessed to dogs' lifestyles has been dramatic.

That evolution has been most apparent in Orange over the past five years, she says.

"It was happening in Sydney probably ten years ago. There was a massive big change but it always takes a little bit longer to come up over the mountains."

As an animal lover herself though, she welcomed the evolution dogs' lives had undergone - which COVID-19 had "definitely" enhanced.

"They're more part of the family [now], which is lovely. Rather than just being a pet in the backyard," Mrs Williams said.

"They're not just an extension of your family or an accessory, they're actually part of the family."