Buying for a dog mum is easier than buying for almost anyone else. You do not need her dress size or her taste in candles. You need the dog's name and, if you can get one, a decent photo. Everything below is personalised with one or both, printed to order in the UK and sent tracked.
In short:
- For every day: the Personalised Dog Mum Mug, with her dog's name.
- If you have a good photo: the Pet Photo Mug or the Pet Photo Fleece Blanket.
- For the tree: the Personalised Dog Ceramic Christmas Ornament.
We have put the useful things first. A dog mum already has a drawer of novelty socks.
Start with the name
The simplest gift is the one with the dog's name on it. Our Personalised Dog Mum Mug carries the words Dog Mum in serif, a simple dog silhouette and her dog's name beneath it. There is an optional extra line for something of your own, such as the year the dog came home.
It is an 11oz white ceramic mug, printed on both sides so the design shows whichever hand she holds it in, and it is dishwasher and microwave safe. It is the sensible starting point, and it is in our Gifts under £20 collection.
For the woman who takes her coffee seriously
If she is particular about her morning cup, the Personalised Dog Silhouette Mug with Name, Two-Tone is the step up. It has a bold dog silhouette in forest green with the dog's name beneath, on a white 11oz ceramic mug with a coloured inside and handle in red, black or dark blue. It looks a little more like a piece of design and a little less like a gift-shop mug, if that suits her better. There is an optional line under the name here too.
If you have a photo
A photo gift means more, and it is easier to arrange than it sounds. Ask her partner or a friend to send you the clearest picture they have, or take one yourself next time the dog sits still in daylight.
The Pet Photo Mug prints the photo in a round frame with the dog's name beneath, and the design is printed twice around the mug so it shows whichever hand she holds it in. You can add a short caption as well. A phone photo taken outdoors is fine. Avoid screenshots and pictures that have been sent through a messaging app more than once, because each pass softens the detail we print. If the photo is too small to print well, the product page will warn you before you add it to your basket.
For the wall, without a photo
Not every dog will sit for a portrait. The Personalised Dog Silhouette Print with Name needs no photo at all. Add the dog's name and an optional line, and we print them beneath a bold dog silhouette in forest green on 220gsm smooth matte fine art paper. The silhouette is the same on every print. It comes in 12 x 16 in (30.5 x 40.6 cm) or 8 x 12 in (20.3 x 30.5 cm), supplied unframed.
If you want to frame it before you hand it over, note that it is slightly larger than 30 x 40 cm (or 20 x 30 cm), so choose a 12 x 16 in (or 8 x 12 in) frame. Like the two-tone mug, it has a bold forest-green dog silhouette, so the two make a pair, and it suits a hallway or a kitchen wall.
For the daily walk
The Personalised Dog Walking Tote Bag with Name is a white 100% cotton tote, light and foldable, printed in forest green with a dog silhouette, the dog's name, a small paw print and a line from a list of four, from Walkies to Will Walk for Treats. It holds everything the walk needs and folds flat when it does not. It also makes good wrapping for a smaller gift tucked inside, such as one of the mugs above.
For the sofa
The Pet Photo Fleece Blanket prints the dog's photo across a soft fleece with the name at the bottom, and a short line if you want one. At 30 by 40 inches it is a lap blanket or a sofa throw, which is exactly the size a dog claims for itself, so be clear who it is for when you hand it over. It is polyester fleece, printed on the front.
For the tree
If the gift is for Christmas, the Personalised Dog Ceramic Christmas Ornament has a terracotta dog silhouette in a small green Santa hat, with the dog's name beneath, the year below it if you add one, and Merry Christmas along the base. It is a round ceramic ornament 7.5 cm across, the same design is printed on both sides, and it comes with a red ribbon for hanging. It is the kind of ornament that comes out of the box every December, which is what a keepsake is for. It is in our For Pet Parents collection.
Before you order
Three things save a lot of trouble.
- Check the spelling of the dog's name, and whether it is Bella or Bela, Alfie or Alfi. We print your wording exactly as you spell it, and some designs set a line in capital letters. A personalised item cannot be returned because you have changed your mind.
- Fill in the boxes on the product page before you add the item to your basket. We do not send proofs, and orders go to our printer within about 10 minutes of payment, so check everything before you pay.
- Order early if it is for a date. Every item is printed to order in the UK and sent by a tracked service (usually Royal Mail or Evri, chosen by the print partner). Delivery times are on our Delivery page, and the last order dates for Christmas are on our Christmas order deadlines page.
Damaged or misprinted? Your right to a free reprint or refund, made easy: send us a photo within 30 days of delivery. Full details are on our Returns page, and the whole range for dog and cat people is in For Pet Parents.
More gift guides
- Christmas gifts for dog lovers gathers six ideas for anyone whose dog is family.
- Gifts for cat mums and cat dads runs from a mug with the cat's name to a photo ornament that shows the cat itself.
- When a friend loses a dog or cat, Pet memorial gifts: how to choose something that helps covers what to send, when to send it and what to write.