Well, the tree is up and it’s beginning to look a lot more festive around here! Getting the singing snowman out made me think about Cindy, my golden retriever who is no longer with us. She didn’t like the singing snowman. I don’t think she understood why it moved and where the voice came from!
She was very much a part of Christmas and I thought I’d do a Blogmas post for our furry friends.
So, to the tune of that other well-known Christmas song:
On the 12th day of Christmas my doggy shared with me
12 wintry walks
11 bonios
10 bags of dogfood
9 canine cuddles
8 furry playmates
7 packs of poo bags
6 tongues a-licking
5 squeaky toys
4 muddy paws
3 dog leads
2 floppy ears
And a waggy tail to show she’s happy!
Here are some ideas if you’re looking for inspiration to treat your furry friend at Christmas.
First of all – dog treats! Some people make their own, but there are plenty of festive treats out there – either normal ones, or special ones for Christmas. The most important thing is to make sure it’s a treat suitable for dogs. Last year my Mum’s dog got these mince pies for dogs and this year I’m getting her some pigs in blankets. Mum, if you’re reading this, don’t tell M!
If you want to give your dog a stocking, why not make one yourself with some of the things that you know he or she loves?
If you don’t want to get treats, you could get a toy. There are all kinds available, from indestructible frame balls for super chewers to a squeaky reindeer. You know what kind of toys your dog likes. I could buy Cindy anything because she was gentle with her toys, but if your dog is a chewer, it’s better to get something more durable.
Cindy tolerated the reindeer antlers for the photos, but she wasn’t a fan, so I didn’t ask her to wear them for long. If you want your dog to look festive, you could get something like this reindeer collar or a personalised Santa’s little helper bandanna!
Maybe it’s a good opportunity to get something practical. When Cindy was getting older, I got her a bed with memory foam to give her better joint support. There are beds to suit all price ranges and sizes – here’s an example.
Also, as she was getting older, I got her a waterproof winter coat to keep out the cold and damp
Another thing you could do is pay for an activity that you can do together. What kind of things does your dog enjoy doing? Is there a skill that he/she could learn, or a class that you could do together?
Most of all, dogs don’t see gifts in the same way as us, so if you really want to do something good for him or her, take some time out of your busy schedule and go for a walk or have some sofa time with your dog. It’s easy to get carried away with all the preparations and often the best thing you can give is your time.
The other thing is not to let your dog have anything that would hurt him or her. There is so much food around at Christmas time, and some things like grapes, raisins, chocolate and alcohol are bad for dogs. Don’t let your friend spend the festive season feeling sick because they had access to human treats!
What will your dog be getting this Christmas?
The calendars
So, what was behind door 4 of your advent calendar if you had one today?
L’Occitane: I got a mini of the verbena body lotion, which is great because I like the bath soak from the same range. I’ve never tried a body lotion from this range, so I’m looking forward to that.
M&S: Gatineau Melatogenine Advanced Rejuvenating Cream. I was happy to see another skincare item. It said you can use it morning and night, but it’s quite a rich cream, so I think this will be my new night cream!
Question for the day
So today I’d like to know – do pets join in with your Christmas celebrations? Will they be getting a gift? If so, what is it?
Would you like Unseen Beauty News emails!
If you’d like me to email you twice a week with information about what’s new on the site, and other things that I have been enjoying, you can sign up using this contact form.
This post contains some affiliate links. I have not bought all of these specific products, but they are similar to things that I have bought in the past.
This is so sweet and now I wish I had a dog! All my friends are talking about presents they have bought for their dogs and it’s so cute!
Aww thanks, maybe you can make one of your friends’ dogs happy with a treat 😉
I love this post! My puppies are a part of our Christmas celebration as well! We hang a stocking for them and “Santa” drops off a few goodies and toys
That’s so cool that they get their own stockings! What kind of dogs do you have? When I was a child, I always insisted that we leave out dog biscuits for the reindeer!
I have a small poodle and a medium mutt that we rescued (but I think he’s part Queensland Heeler). Aw, that’s so cute!
Aww give them a hug or a pat or an ear rub from me!
Such lovely ideas!
Thank you!
This is so cute!! So many people forget about our furry friends around Christmas time- we always get my dog an advent calender and she absolutely loves it 🙂
Aww, they know it means “treat time” when the advent calendar comes out. My dog used to look up at it in the morning if I forgot to open it!
Awww that’s so cute!!
Awww….I actually just sang 12 days of Christmas with your lyrics….if i had pets, I’ll definitely consider then during seasonal celebrations
Haha glad to here my little song is being sung! It started off because my boyfriend I were just joking around, but then I decided to finish it off and use it in the post!
Nice lyrics
This is such a lovely post! I have a gorgeous Cockapoo who will be receiving toys this Christmas as he is on a diet!! x
I’m sure he’ll enjoy those! My golden retriever had problems with her pancreas, which meant special food and no treats, so she had a lot of toys too.
Such adorable ideas !! How I wish I had a dog!
I’m watching a vlogmas from one yt and she got two advent calendars for her cats, how cute is that. I didn’t know that there were advent calendars for pets. Lovely post. xx
Aww that’s cute! I didn’t know about cat ones. I had a dog one once with little paw-shaped treats in it every day! Thanks for stopping by XX
Im loving Blogmas! I have a cat and a dog, and they both get presents. In fact, they both already have one under the tree. The ones under the tree are both treat ones, I then tend to get them both a toy one too. Our dog also has a christmas dinner of turkey, potatoes, veg and gravy. We dont give her brussels though, her wind is bad enough! x
I had a friend who was trying to get some smoked salmon from the starter for her cat! It’s lovely that the animals can be part of the fun as well!My mum’s dog could open her own presents, but I didn’t want to teach my dog that in case she opened mine too!
Hahaha! My dog is so naughty she would open everyones given the chance! x
We do Santa pictures every year with our dogs! It’s always adorable and the money goes to a rescue. As for presents, I usually make them doggo friendly gingerbread treats and they each get a few toys. They are huskies and are walked 3-4 hours a day, so in the winter we try to take them sledding as much as possible.
Huskies are adorable! We wanted to go sledding when we went to Sweden, but unfortunately it was too far from where we were staying and we ran out of time! I love the idea with the santa pictures.
So sweet and creative!
Things to keep in mind for next Christmas for our fur baby Bear. But everyday is kinda Christmas for him lol.. he’s so spoiled 💗
Cheers,
M & Bear
It’s always good to spoil our four-legged friends!