2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Dog Gifts for Your Spoiled Pup
*AD – Gifted
This post contains gifted items. All opinions shared here are my own.
It’s that time of year when we’re all working hard to complete our Christmas shopping lists. For dog parents, this includes searching out the perfect dog gifts to spoil our furry friends. After all, they give us so much! Today, I’ve put together a list of toys, treats and other items that are sure to bring joy to your pup this holiday season.
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If you’re like me, you refer to your dog as your best friend, your confident, your protector and your fur baby.
They give us everything they have and ask for very little in return.
This holiday season, they deserve to find something extra special waiting for them under the tree too!
Sure, you could gift your pup a simple bone or a tennis ball and they would be beyond excited. That’s one of the reasons that we love our dogs so much…
They find true joy in the simplest of things.
But there is something to be said for the joy that we, as dog owners, feel when we find that extra special gift for our pups! Right?
Each of the items on this list has been tried and tested by our two pups, Daviana and Indiana.
They were a big hit in our home, and I’m sure that they will bring happiness and joy this season to your pup(s) as well.
Better still, they are all available for purchase online!
So, let’s start shopping…
Related: ‘Stocking Stuffers for Pet Lovers: 20 Gifts Under $20‘
Dog Gifts Your Pup is Sure to Love This Holiday Season
Outward Hound Interactive Puzzle Toys
A recent addition to our household, we shared on Instagram just last week that we purchased a couple of different Outward Hound puzzle toys for the dogs.
These toys are great because they not only keep your dog busy, but they also offer mental stimulation.
Our boy Indiana isn’t overly interested in toys but the incorporation of his favourite foods into this game made sure that it was a big winner.
There are a variety of different levels available, ranging from Level 1: Beginner with simple one-step actions to introduce your dog up to Level 4: Expert which requires multiple actions in a correct order to earn their treat.
This is not only a fun toy, but it is also a great way to feed your dog if they have a bad habit of eating their food too quickly.
Outward Hound Fun Feeder Slo Bowl
Speaking of dogs that eat their food too quickly, the Outward Hound Fun Feeder Slo Bowl has been a permanent fixture in our house.
We first purchased one for Indiana in the summer as he would INHALE his food without a second thought.
After seeing how much it helped him (and considering the dangers associated with bloat), we made the call to purchase one for Daviana as well.
Not only do these bowls slow the pups down, but they also turn mealtime into playtime as they ‘hunt’ their food around the dish.
Collar Town Custom Collar
If you follow Shed Happens on social media, you may have noticed that both of our dogs have been rocking some new collars.
We were on the search for lightweight collars that the dogs could wear around the house so that they would always have their ID (better safe than sorry).
That’s when we discovered all the fun, unique collars made by Collar Town.
The best part? It’s a local small business!
I am always a big fan of shopping small businesses whenever possible.
While they specialize in martingale style collars, they also offer house collars and standard dog collars.
You can choose from their selection of ready to ship collars in different styles and colours or have one custom made in the size and design of your choice.
Dressing up for the holidays? They are currently offering a wide variety of festive holiday patterns!
KONG Squeezz Ball
There are few toys as highly sought after as the traditional tennis ball for dogs. What about a tennis ball with a twist?
The Squeezz ball is made by the KONG company, a brand that’s well-known for their durable toys.
It has also been a major favourite of Daviana’s throughout her life (and still is today).
These fun, squeaky balls are also available in a variety of fun colours, making it easy to spot them out in your yard.
Walkabout Harnesses Jawz Traction Booties
My girl Daviana is now 12 years old, meaning that she is officially a ‘senior dog’.
However, she seems to have missed the memo somewhere along the way… She refuses to accept that she’s getting older (and I’m totally okay with it).
Constantly on the go with the energy of a young pup, she’s not ready to slow down.
Unfortunately, we hit a snag. Our house is 90% hardwood floors, and she has been finding it increasingly difficult to maintain traction.
Luckily for her, she recently won a contest on the Modern Dog Magazine Facebook page. The prize? A set of Jawz Traction Booties from Walkabout Harnesses.
My girl is back to running around the house and living her best life!
If you’re shopping for a senior dog this season, this a great option that could make a world of difference for your pup.
Related: ‘5 Benefits of Homemade Treats for Dogs (and Other Pets)‘
Outward Hound Granby Life Jacket
Do you have an outdoor loving dog? If not, why not consider picking up gear for your future adventures.
We introduced our pups to the canoe, and they LOVE life on the water.
However, you can’t be too safe! That’s where this life jacket from Outward Hound comes into play.
Anytime we head out on the water we wear our life jackets, so why wouldn’t we take the same precautions for our dogs?
These are easy to put on, comfortable and will give you peace of mind.
Carlson Pet Products Portable Pup Travel Bed
Another great product for your upcoming outdoor adventures, this travel bed will ensure your dog will be comfortable wherever your travels may take you.
Better still, it easily folds up into a convenient travel bag.
What better option for dog gifts than a product that encourages you to get out and explore the world together in style?
West Paw Zogoflex Toys
Another great option for those heavy chewers in your life, West Paw has created a whole line of toys using their special Zogoflex material.
This includes fetch toys, tug toys and treat toys, meaning there is an option for every dog.
They are fun, bright colours and float, making them great toys for that dog that loves to go swimming in the summer. They are our favourite lake toys!
West Paw backs their products with the Love It Guarantee, offering a one-time refund or replacement if you aren’t happy with the performance of the product.
Top Paw Weave Orthopedic Mattress Dog Bed
Are you shopping for an older pup that is no longer as interested in dog toys?
If so, another great option would be a new pet bed. After all, who doesn’t love to be comfortable when they take a relaxing nap?
We purchased the Top Paw Weave Orthopedic Mattress for Daviana over a year ago and now we’re looking at getting a second for Indiana.
It has been a total win for both dogs!
Related: ‘10+ Dog Toy Storage Ideas to Complement Any Décor‘
PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher
Do you have an active dog that always wants to play? If so, this one’s for you!
The PetSafe Automatic Ball Launcher is a great way to entertain your dog both inside and out with 9 distance settings and 6 angle settings.
Our girl Daviana may be a senior dog, but she has the playful energy of a young puppy.
It took all of 30 seconds for her to fall completely in love with this toy. We’re now working on teaching her to load it herself as well.
With motion detectors and an automatic rest mode, this ball launcher will allow your dog to burn off all that excess energy while also prioritizing their safety and well-being.
@shedhappensblog Dav's new FAVOURITE toy ? ##petsoftiktok ##petthings ##dogtoychallenge ##dogtoyreview ##fetch ##doggosdoingthings
♬ ALL IN – ZaeHD & CEO
KONG Wild Knots Toys
My mother has always found the best dog gifts during the holidays, with a gift for each pet in the family under the Christmas tree for our family celebrations.
A few years ago, my mother picked up a flamingo toy from KONG.
What we didn’t realize at the time was that we were bringing home her all-time favourite toy and would bring it to bed every night (for over 5 years now).
Mingo (as we affectionately call it) is part of the Wild Knots line of toys. They are soft, cuddly toys with a skeleton of knotted rope.
The extra rope reinforcement means that they are durable, holding up for years (even if it now looks like it has seen FAR better days).
Since bringing Mingo home, we have purchased another toy from the Wild Knots line, a green special-edition holiday bear last year.
Other options include a monkey, pig, rabbit, dragon, elephant, hippo, camel, and more!
With so many different colours and styles, there is something for every pup!
PetSafe Drinkwell Pet Fountain
Pet fountains provide a number of great benefits for both you AND your pup, providing an ongoing supply of fresh, clean water.
While they are an investment (one of the more costly items on this list) you won’t regret it!
The Drinkwell line of fountains from PetSafe (which is what we use) comes in a range of sizes from the small 1.8L (ideal for small dogs and cats) right up to the 7.5L (for multi-pet homes like ours).
To top it all off, the fountain is easy to clean. What’s not to love?
Chuckit! Zipflight Dog Toy
Daviana LOVES playing frisbee out in the back yard with my husband for hours on end.
However, I have found that cheap, plastic frisbees break quickly and can cause irritation along the edges of her mouth when she is catching them.
If that sounds relatable, your list of dog gifts needs to include this Zipflight toy!
These toys are both soft and strong, meaning that they are durable and perfect for long play sessions.
Whether your dog is big or small, old or young, there are so many great options available!
As I mentioned at the start, each of these items are already used and loved here in our home. They are tried and tested, earning the Daviana and Indiana stamp of approval.
Curious as to what new products are gracing their wishlist this season?
Check out their Amazon Wishlist (on Amazon.ca) for more ideas and inspiration…
Have you already found the perfect dog gifts for your spoiled pup? If so, we would love to hear about them in the comments below!
I love the idea of the puzzle! Wonder if my guy will like it. And that dog travel bed made me laugh bc I have the same travel bed for my kids! Hahaha! Thanks for the great list!
There are some great level 1 puzzle toys that you could start off with. Our pups both love playing with them.
The ball launcher is so cool! I actually think my cats would like that haha one of my cats acts like a little dog and loves playing fetch xx
I actually have one cat that LOVES playing with tennis balls lol! She rolls around on the ground while holding it with all 4 paws.
These are great gift ideas for dogs
Thank you!
Oooh, I love dogs, Britt!!!! We have so many dogs and I’m so excited to buy stuff for my Pablo. I’d love to buy him a customized collar and some dog bowls and leash! These are all great stuff to buy and I’m glad I encountered reading this today. ? Thanks so much for this! xx
Thank you! Shopping for our pets is, hands down, my favourite holiday shopping!
Oh my gosh those doggie booties are adorable! ? We have the dog frisbee already and Ipo loves it! I think she would really love the automatic ball thrower. And I would love if I could teach her to lead it so I could have a little peace when trying to work from home. ??♀️ Thank you!
We’re still working on teaching the Dav girl to load it, but I have it set to it’s lowest setting in the dining room right now so that she can play around with it during the day. She has managed to do it a couple of times now, just not consistently (yet) lol
I am sending this link to my sister, she loves to spoil her pooch every Christmas!
Rosie
She and I have something in common! I LOVE spoiling ours too!
That ball launcher sounds so fun! Perfect for the chill of winter when you really don’t want to run about.
I love that it has so many different settings. We have used it in the back yard with settings to send the ball flying to the end of the yard, but also indoors in the dining room on a much lower setting. One toy that works in both situations is a total win in my book!
I don’t have a dog anymore, but my mum has a husky & I buy gifts for him so this is a great guide! He is a heavy chewer so the West Paw Zogoflex toy sounds perfect!
The only Zogoflex toy that I wouldn’t recommend as far as standing up to abuse is the frisbee. The center of it is fairly thin and it didn’t take long for our dogs to put a tooth through it. We have a number of the others here, however, and they love them!
We don’t have dogs (we have 3 cats and 15 indoor fish and 20 outdoor fish) but these are fab suggestions for all dog owners. My neighbour has a dalmation and a retriever, and my friend has an old english sheepdog so I’ll have to show them this page for some Christmas inspo!
Thank you! I’ll be publishing a cat gift guide next week, with items tried, tested and loved by Pippen and Jinx!
Great list! I’ve been thinking about getting my girls a new bed. I think I will check out the Top Paw Weave Orthopedic Mattress. It looks like exactly what I need. Thanks for sharing your recommendations!
Our girl Dav likes to go, go, go as if she’s still a pup. However, she’s 12 and if she’s too crazy during the day, she’ll find herself stiff that night or the next day in her hips. That’s why we decided an orthopedic mattress was key. We researched a lot of different options, and even purchased and tried a couple of others before this one, but this particular bed has been a HUGE hit!
I love this dog gift guide! I’ll be showing one of my friends this as she has dogs and would love to buy one of these gifts for them! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you! I love spoiling our two… they deserve everything we can give them!
I had no idea you could even get puzzle toys for dogs, I never thought about if a dog would enjoy being mentally challenged, but I guess there’s no reason why they wouldn’t
Dogs actually need mental stimulation in order to avoid boredom. A bored dog is a destructive dog – which can lead to all sorts of problems!
Hi Britt. What a fantastic collection of gift ideas for dogs. I can already see that Harvey is going to be adding some weight to Santa’s sleigh! And I love Dav – what a beautiful dog you have.
Thank you! I’m sure that Harvey is going to have a GREAT Christmas.
Great list you got here! 🙂 I like custom collars as they can give your dogs some personality! Although we always give our dog some treats for Christmas haha! The portable bed looks amazing! 🙂
We are IN LOVE with the collars we have from Collar Town. They look amazing on our pups – I’ll definitely be looking at getting more in the near future.
It’s been a good year for pups with their owners staying home more and this gift guide makes it even better! I love king toys for my dog as he’s pretty rough and they last! I’ll have to check out that squeeze ball. I love the idea of that therapeutic bed too!
I am pretty sure we have over a dozen of those balls around the house at this point. My mother also has a few at her house for when we’re up there. She is head over heels in love with them when it comes to play time.
I have a video of her laying at the end of our bed a few years ago just squeaking it over and over until we got up and played with her lol
Wow these are some great ideas. I had no idea there were so many options out there for dogs. A therapeutic bed? Who knew? Thanks for compiling this list.
The bed is such a great choice for any dog that may be a little stiff or struggling with arthritis. Every dog needs a comfortable place to nap!
Love all of these ideas!! We have been considering getting the ball launcher for our fetching golden retriever/collie mix who lives for the game. Thanks for putting this guide together!
We are SO impressed with the ball launcher and Dav is IN LOVE! We’re still working on getting her to load it herself each time, but if she isn’t loading it, she’s sitting beside it with her tennis ball pouting until we notice lol
Haha! So cute! using the word spoiled is funny but they deserve it! Am I right? =)
Exactly! They literally give us everything they have and make us the center of their world. The least we can do is to spoil them a little in return. That’s my view.
I have to say the photos of the dogs are just so cute! I wish I had a dog to get these for!
Thank you! They are a little picky at times and they know what they like haha
These are great gift ideas for dogs! I love the custom collars xx
Aren’t they adorable? I am so impressed with them!
I am soooo with you on Christmas gifts for fur babies. These are all lovely ideas. The puzzle toy looks like fun!
Our two LOVE their puzzle toys. Recently, we’ve found them drawing our attention to the toys when they want us to load them again lol
I love all of the holiday goodies for pets!! The puzzle toy looks so cool!! Great way to portion control. The slow feeder is a great idea. The collar is so cute too!! I’ve been seeing a lot of different designer collars lately – they’re crazy expensive! Love the different gift ideas!! Thanks for sharing!
Nancy ✨
You should check out Collar Town! They are beautiful handmade collars and at a really reasonable price too.
This was a great list of ideas. I love buying for loved ones and you have shared some great ideas. There are some great things out there for pets. Thank you for sharing.
I love spoiling our pets. They give us everything, so it’s the least we can do!
Very timely as I am thinking of what presents to give my furbabies. I think they would love a new dog bed. Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea.
There is something SO heartwarming about seeing the pups curled up on a new bed that we purchased for them. That look of complete comfort on their faces.
These are lovely gift ideas for dogs. I particularly like the light weight collar. Also, I’ve always thought that the dog boots were for fashion ( I want to hide in shame. Haha!) Thanks for explaining what’s they’re really for.
There are different types of boots for different purposes. The ones mentioned are for indoor traction. There are also outdoor boots to protect your dog’s feet (either from injury, such as when hiking out in the bush, or from the cold) as well as shoes that work as water shoes when your dog is swimming in a body of water with risks like zebra muscles. Dav girl has a few different pairs for different situations 🙂