Welcome to our 2024 dog holiday gift guide!
Is mid-November too early to be updating our yearly dog holiday gift guide? Hopefully not – or maybe you’re reading this closer to the holidays? Since I’ve decided to only post here once a month, at least for now, I wanted to get this post up in November. That should give everyone plenty of time if they want to order any of our suggestions for their dogs’ holida gift this year!
In Loving Memory Of Kitsune
Slight disclaimer, I suppose. I’m sure many of you already know that my beloved papillon, Kitsune, actually passed away early this year. Despite that, I couldn’t bring myself to take his name, or photos, off this post. His birthday was the day after Christmas, December 26th, and he always had so much fun celebrating Christmas and then his birthday with us. His joy was so infectious. Celebrating without him for the first time in 15 years is going to be hard. I think, in his memory, our yearly dog holiday gift guide will always bear his name. He will forever be my Yuletide pup!
Our Official Toy Tester!
Kitsune is survived by his ‘brother’ Fenrir, my 9 year old Alaskan Klee Kai. Though he’s no spring chicken anymore himself, Fenrir still loves playing with toys! He was the official toy tester for this list. Although I do have to admit he’s a super picky eater, so finding treats that he loves isn’t so easy. Maybe, in a way, that’s a good thing. It means any treats that make it to our list this year will have to be extra delicious to peak Fenrir’s interest!
Been There, Done That?
I always hope that these lists don’t feel too repetitive to our long-time readers. I’ve more than likely recommended many of these products on my blog before. When you’ve kept dogs for over 15 years, and try out the crazy number of dog products that I have, clear winners start to emerge! I never like to recommend products here that I wouldn’t happily use for my own dogs. Although I could surely recommend more, I usually try to keep our dog holiday gift guide to a list of 10 products.
This year I tried to make my list a good balance between fun, toy-type products and more practical gifts. Hopefully, if you’re looking for a gift idea for your dog this holiday season, you can find something here!
I apologize that some of the product photos here are not up to date. I originally meant to try getting all new photos for this post, but time got away from me. A lot of the items recommended here are toys/products we’ve used for years, so rather than having no photos at all I decided to go with some older pictures.
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Without further ado…
Our 2024 Dog Holiday Gift Guide:
Muscle Plush Dog Toys:
My partner found these toys on Chewy.com a couple of years ago, I believe around the end of 2020, and bought a couple of them for Kit and Fen. We just thought they were silly, and didn’t have any particular expectations that they would last long. Fenrir can sometimes be rather rough with his toys. He has this habit of picking a “favorite” toy each day, which he’ll then proceed to carry around all day. Often, he’ll select the same handful of toys over and over again until they basically fall apart. Besides carrying his current favorites around, he beats them up. He plays rough and has a tendency to try to destuff plush toys. We have a couple of these Muscle Plush toys, and Fen often selects them as his daily favorites. After 4 years (!) of being carried around, beat up, dragged, snuggled with, chewed on, and played with, Fen has not managed to destuff a single one of his Muscle Plushies!
Fluff & Tuff Dog Toys:
These toys aren’t quite as durable as the Muscle Plush toys, but they are still fan favorites here at the Paw Print house! Fluff & Tuff is a brand of dog toys. Fenrir has been able to destroy these toys, but it takes a lot longer than your average toy. Most of all, I love all the plush options this brand offers! Fenrir LOVES the Fluff & Tuff Mary Lamb. He’s currently on his second lamb toy. The first one lasted him around a year before it needed to be replaced. Kitsune loved his Fluff & Tuff Lobo Wolf. He always liked bigger plush toys for some reason. I love how stinking adorable these toys are!
Beef Gullet Chews:
Last year for Christmas Santa Paws brought Kit and Fen a bag of these beef gullet sticks. Their only ingredient is beef gullet – chemical and preservative free! They are 100% digestible and although they don’t smell the best, they do smell way better than traditional bully sticks. Fenrir, picky as he is, is obsessed with these things! I’d even go as far as saying they are his favorite food now. I’ve been giving him one a night before bed. As soon as he sees me walking towards the chewy container at night he freaks out and runs up to bed to wait for his favorite snack.
Insulated Dog Bowls:
After our most recent move, when we had some of our old dog bowls break, I went on an epic quest to find the “perfect” replacement bowls. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite so epic, but I came across the wonder that is insulated dog bowls. I bought a few double walled, stainless steel, insulated dog bowls to use for Kit’s and Fen’s water. They’re especially awesome during any extreme temperatures, because they hold the temperature of whatever I put in them for much longer than a regular bowl. So I can keep the dogs’ water cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Lupine Products:
If I had to pick my favorite leash brand that I’ve used for my small dogs, it would have to be Lupine! At first glance Lupine leashes are just regular, although adorable, nylon leashes. But I really like the handles on them. And bonus points, Lupine offers a lifetime guarantee on their products that yes, they actually honor! Their products really do last a lifetime. A dog lifetime, at least. Kit had a Lupine collar and leash that I got for him as a puppy. They now hang in his memorial in my office. His leash especially saw a ton of use, daily use for years, and still held up surprisingly well.
Dental Chews:
Dogs love to chew! I’ve been trying to pick multipurpose chews. Of course the main purpose when it comes to buying chews is to give my dogs a mentally stimulating snack. But I’ve been all about dental chews especially in the last couple of years. Doggy dental health is SO important, and there’s no funner way for your pooch to keep his pearly whites clean than to chew! They don’t take Fenrir super long time to get through, but he enjoys these PlaqueOff chews. They really seem to do a good job at helping to keep his teeth clean too.
Chuck-It Accessories & Balls:
Four years ago for Yule my partner got Fenrir a Chuck-It Ball Thrower with a bunch of Chuck-It balls. To this day, Fen loves his ball thrower/balls and gets super excited every time he sees one of us get it out. Chuck-It balls can be a great alternative to giving your dog regular tennis balls, especially if you worry about your dog pulling the fuzz off a tennis ball and potentially damaging his/her teeth. I love that the Chuck-It balls are bright orange, so they’re easy to find when they get lost in the yard. Because they are rubber, they are also super easy to clean after a long play session. No one likes muddy balls, after all!
Dog Beds:
If I had it my way, all the dogs in the world would each have a warm, comfortable bed to call their own. Or in the case of my own dogs, like 300 warm comfortable beds! I’m a big fan of Brindle memory foam dog beds. I use them in my dog crates and have found them to be really durable, even after lots of washes.
Gooby Dog Clothes:
Last year for Yule I bought each of my dogs new Gooby jackets. I know not everyone loves dressing up their dogs, but it actually does get really cold where we live! Luckily my dogs never minded wearing jackets. Out of all the dog clothing brands we’ve tried over the years Gooby has came out as the clear winner. Gooby clothes are sized for smaller dogs. I always find it funny to have to order size XL for my small(ish) dogs. For some reason I feel like this brand just fit my small dogs really well. They are simple, yet adorable, and practical too. They fit my dogs well, look cute, and keep them warm on our cold winter days.
Hide & Seek Puzzle Plush Toys:
Kitsune really loved these plush puzzle type toys. I use to hide treats in them with the plushies so he had to work to dig them out. Fen also loves just playing with the cute little squeaky plush toys. The little toys are small enough that I’ll often throw one around in the living room for Fen to fetch when the weather is bad and we can’t play outside. Toys like these have been around since Kitsune was a puppy, but some of the newer designs you can get now are too funny. These toys aren’t the most durable, but usually a set of them comes with at least a few little plushies so even if your dog does destuff one or two it’s not a huge deal.
Vet Bills & Other Necessities:
I know, I know, no pet owner actually enjoys paying vet bills. Unfortunately they are part of the deal when it comes to keeping dogs.
Besides just vet prices going up, the world has been crazy lately. Necessities, for people and pets, going up in cost can make it hard to have a lot of money to spend on nonessential items. Don’t feel bad if your current financial situation calls for a small scale Christmas. Guess what? Your dog doesn’t care!
Time:
Because the thing that will always mean the most to your dog is your time! Throw a ball around in the yard, go for a nice long walk, or just spend some extra time cuddled up on the couch. I know the holiday season can get super hectic for a lot of people, myself included. But try to find what time you can to spend with those you love. There really is no greater gift.
Happy Holidays!
I hope you enjoyed our 2024 dog holiday gift guide, and maybe got inspired if you came here searching for gift ideas for your dog. Comment below! If you already know, or already finished shopping, what is your pet getting for the holidays? What are some of your dogs favorite toys and/or treats?
I know that it’s early for this but I’m not sure if I’ll post again before the winter holidays. Fen and I would like to wish all of our readers a warm, cozy, fun, happy holiday season!
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