What to Get Your Dog for Christmas: Gifts for Tuggers to Nappers

How we chose these gifts

A dog’s Christmas present has done its job if it’s still in use in February. Spend a few days watching before you buy: what your dog grabs, what happens to a toy once they have it, how fast dinner disappears and where they nap. Each gift below had to pass four checks:

• It matches a habit you can see. Tugging, shredding, carrying, licking, gulping, curling up or shivering on walks. A gift aimed at a habit your dog doesn’t have tends to end up under the sofa.
• It earns its place after the holidays. A toy for daily games, a mat for baths and nail trims, a bowl for every meal, a bed or coat for the rest of the winter.
• It fits, or needs no fitting. The two toys, the lick mat and the slow feeder need no measurement. The bed and the coat do, and they come only in small-dog sizes.
• It comes from our own catalog. These picks are limited to what Nilosi stocks. We haven’t compared them with everything on the market, and where a gift has a catch, we say so.

A quick match by habit

Your dog	Gift	Skip it if
Tugger	Fire hose crocodile	You need a toy for solo chewing
Shredder	Fire hose crocodile	Nobody can supervise play
Carrier	Plush fox	Your dog has ever gutted plush
Licker	Lick mat	Your dog chews instead of licking
Fast eater	Slow feeder	Meals are already unhurried
Curler	Cuddler bed	Your dog is big or sleeps flat
Cold walker	Ranch coat	Too big for size M, or thick-coated

For tuggers and shredders: a fire hose toy

Tuggers bring you a toy and pull. Shredders hunt for a seam, an ear or a tag and keep going until the stuffing is out, often on the first afternoon. Both need a toy with nothing inside to pull out, long enough for your hand and their mouth at the same time.

The Fire Hose Crocodile Tough Dog Toy is about 26 inches long, made from real fire-hose material and completely stuffing-free, with squeakers designed to keep squeaking after they’ve been punctured. It’s made for tug and fetch, so it’s a present you play with together rather than one you hand over and leave.

Good fit: a dog who plays rough and finishes plush toys fast. At 26 inches it gives a medium or large dog plenty to grab, while a very small dog may find it more toy than they can carry. Think twice if your dog likes to lie down and grind on a toy for an hour: fabric toys, fire hose included, are for play, not solo chewing. We don’t stock chews, so ask your veterinarian which ones suit your dog’s teeth.

Tough isn’t the same as unbreakable. Bring the crocodile out for games and put it away afterward, check the seams after each session and retire it once a seam opens or a squeaker can be reached. For tug rules and the other chewing styles, see our guide to toys for dogs who destroy toys.

For carriers and gentle chewers: a plush toy

Some dogs never destroy a toy. They pick one up, parade it around the house, mouth it softly, bring it to the door when you get home and sleep with it nearby. For these dogs, something soft that’s worth carrying makes a better gift than the toughest toy on the shelf.

The Realistic Plush Fox Dog Toy with Squeaker has a soft body of about 10 inches from head to rear, a 6-inch tail and a squeaker inside. The body is easy to carry around the house, and the long tail gives a gentle dog something to take hold of for easy games of tug.

Good fit: gentle to moderate chewers and carriers, which is who the fox is made for. Think twice if your dog has ever gutted a plush toy. Humane World for Animals notes that even “safe” stuffing isn’t truly digestible, and advises supervising play with squeaky toys, because a dog may set out to find and destroy the squeaker and could swallow it. Take the fox away once a seam opens.

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  Fire Hose Crocodile Dog Toy, View product

  $30.95

  Why it fits: A gift for the dog who tugs or shreds, since the 26-inch fire-hose body has no stuffing to pull out. Keep it for games you play together.

  View product

• 

  Realistic Plush Fox Dog Toy with Squeaker, View product

  $30.95

  Why it fits: A soft gift for the dog who carries toys around, with a 10-inch body to parade and a 6-inch tail for gentle tug. Not for known shredders.

  View product

For lickers and fast eaters

Lickers clean the yogurt pot, your hands and the sofa cushion. Fast eaters empty the bowl before you’ve straightened up. Both get more out of food that takes time, and both of these gifts keep getting used after Christmas: at mealtimes, during baths and nail trims, or when you need half an hour to yourself.

A lick mat for slow, calm licking

The SodaPup Jigsaw Enrichment Lick Mat has a jigsaw texture that holds a soft spread in its grooves, so licking it clean takes a while, and freezing it makes the session last longer. It’s made in the USA by SodaPup, dishwasher safe, suits dogs of all sizes and cats, and comes in Green or Pink. Spread wet food, plain pumpkin purée or a peanut butter without xylitol; the FDA advises checking the label of any nut butter before you give it to a dog. For more fillings, see what to put on a lick mat.

A slow feeder for the dog who gulps

The SodaPup Honeycomb Slow Feeder Dog Bowl spreads a meal across honeycomb ridges in a deep bowl, so your dog has to work around the pattern instead of inhaling it. It takes kibble, wet food or a frozen mix, goes in the dishwasher and is made in the USA.

Which one? The mat suits soft food and calm moments; the bowl is for whole meals. A dog who does both can have both. Think twice if your dog chews rather than licks: neither is a chew toy, so stay nearby and pick it up once the edges get chewed. Count the spread as part of the day’s food, and check with your veterinarian first if your dog is on a special diet or eats so fast that they cough or bring food back up.

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  SodaPup

  Jigsaw Enrichment Lick Mat for Dogs & Cats, Choose color

  $25.95

  Why it fits: A long licking job for the dog who loves soft food, with jigsaw grooves for wet food or a xylitol-free spread. Freeze it to last longer.

  Choose color

• 

  SodaPup

  Honeycomb Slow Feeder Dog Bowl, View product

  $30.95

  Why it fits: Slows the dog who gulps dinner, with honeycomb ridges in a deep bowl for kibble, wet food or a frozen mix. A gift used at every meal.

  View product

For small dogs who curl up or feel the cold

These two gifts come only in small-dog sizes, so for a bigger dog the toys and the lick mat are the better buys. For a little dog, our guide to gifts for small dogs explains how to size both, along with a car booster, a backpack carrier and a harness.

A rimmed bed for the curler

A dog who curls into a ball, burrows into cushions or props a chin on the sofa arm likes an edge to lean on. The Armarkat Ultra-Plush Cuddler Bed has a raised bolster all the way round, a thick plush cover that holds warmth and a water-resistant, skid-free base. It’s made for cats and small dogs, in Small (22 × 22 × 8 inches) and Medium, and it’s machine washable on a gentle cycle, though hand washing keeps the plush at its best. Skip it for a dog who sleeps flat on their side with legs out.

A coat for cold walks

Not every dog needs a coat. The AKC’s guide to winter coats names small and toy breeds, short-legged and lean dogs, puppies and seniors among those that benefit from one, while thick-coated breeds such as Siberian Huskies are naturally protected.

The DCNY Ranch Dog Coat comes in XXS, XS, Small and Medium, in three finishes: Home by Sunset, Smoked Charcoal and Sherpa Lined Denim, the one with a sherpa lining. Wide hook-and-loop closures at the chest and belly make dressing easier; the XXS and XS have a built-in leash clip, and the Small and Medium have an opening for a harness. It’s made in the USA and machine washable on a gentle cycle, then laid flat to dry. Custom sizes aren’t offered, so measure back length, chest and neck before you order.

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  Armarkat

  Ultra-Plush Cuddler Bed for Cats & Small Dogs, Choose size

  $55.95 – $72.95Price range: $55.95 through $72.95

  Why it fits: A rimmed nest for a small dog who curls up to sleep, with a raised bolster and a skid-free base. Sized only for cats and small dogs.

  Choose size

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  Doggie Couture NY

  DCNY Ranch Dog Coat, Choose size & color

  $72.95

  Why it fits: A coat for the small dog who feels the cold on walks, with wide chest and belly closures. Sizes XXS to Medium only, so measure first.

  Choose size & color

Check these before you wrap it

Size and supervision decide whether a new gift is a safe one for your dog. Before you wrap anything, check:

• Too big to swallow. Pick a toy that can’t fit whole in your dog’s mouth. Humane World for Animals warns that toys that are too small can be swallowed or become lodged in the throat.
• Watched at first. Stay in the room for the first few sessions with any new toy, mat or bowl, and put toys away when play ends.
• Right for a puppy. A growing puppy can outgrow a bed or coat quickly, so the size-free gifts suit a first Christmas better, and a teething puppy needs closer watching with any toy.

Ordering for the 25th? Orders dispatch in 1–2 business days and usually arrive 2–5 business days after that, and weekends and federal holidays don’t count, so leave a cushion. Items from different warehouses can arrive in separate parcels; see our shipping details. The 30-day return window runs from delivery, not from Christmas morning, and swapping a size counts as a change-of-mind return. Used bowls, lick mats and bedding can’t be returned unless faulty; our returns policy has the details.

Unwrapping and introducing a new gift

Your dog’s present is the one most likely to be opened with teeth. Our Christmas dog safety checklist covers the tree, food gifts and guests; for the gift itself:

1. Wrap it in plain paper with no ribbon, string or bells, or hand it over from a bag. Remove tags, plastic ties and inserts first, and bag the paper straight away.
2. Pick a calm moment, such as after the morning walk, rather than the middle of the family unwrapping.
3. Start a new toy as a game: a few rounds of tug with the crocodile, a toss of the fox for the carrier. Then put the tug toy away.
4. Fill the lick mat with part of the day’s food, and serve the first meal in the slow feeder with your dog’s usual food.
5. Set the bed where your dog already naps, with a blanket that smells of home, and let your dog step in on their own.
6. Try the coat on indoors for a minute or two with treats before the first cold walk, and check it doesn’t rub behind the front legs.
7. Bring out one new thing at a time. Humane World for Animals suggests rotating toys weekly, with only a few out at once.

Gifts to skip in a dog household

• A stocking full of toys at once. Ten new toys on one morning are hard to supervise, and the novelty wears off all at once. Give one or two and keep the rest for later.
• Small toys for a big dog. Mini plush and small balls that suit a terrier could be swallowed by a Labrador.
• A costume for the photo. Antlers and Santa hats that a dog paws at or shakes off are a gift for the people. If you dress up for a picture, keep it brief and take it off at the first sign your dog is uncomfortable.
• A coat bought on a guess. Breed and weight aren’t enough to pick a size, and a dog with a thick double coat may not need one at all.
• Treats from the holiday table. Rich leftovers, chocolate, raisins and anything sweetened with xylitol aren’t presents; the safety checklist above lists what to keep out of reach.

Buying for the people in the house as well? Our practical gifts for dog owners are organized by daily chore, and if a cat shares the tree, see what to get your cat for Christmas.