Are you looking for a special gift for a very special rescue dog? Here at DoggyWarriors, we have been busy putting together a list of 10 brilliant gift ideas that will help show your rescue dog just how much you care about them.
Supporting small business has never been so important. There are some fabulous brands that we would like to highlight, so be sure to check them out.
Did you know that 3.2 million households in the UK have brought a pet into their lives since the start of the pandemic? This means that for many rescue dogs, this will be the first Christmas they spend with their forever family. Rescue dog owners will be keen to spoil their new furry friend with a special gift to make them feel loved and welcome in their new home.
The festive period does bring some challenges though. Many dogs – particularly rescue dogs – find Christmas quite overwhelming, what with all the new experiences, flavours, smells, sounds and people. There are three easy ways to calm an anxious dog: sniffing, licking and chewing, so we have taken care to suggest gifts that encourage these naturally soothing behaviours.
That brings us nicely to our first gift idea!
1. Ruffle Snuffle® mat
Being able to sniff is so important for our dogs. The part of the brain that’s primarily activated by sniffing is the same part that releases dopamine, a chemical important for regulating anxiety. Sniffing can be self-soothing, it can reduce stress, and channel excess energy into a more calming behaviour.
The original Ruffle Snuffle® mat is an ideal enrichment toy for your new rescue dog. It can help them stay calm in stressful situations and help them settle in their new home. The soft fleece fronds provide good hiding place for treats and the act of sniffing them out is both physically rewarding and mentally tiring for your dog. Long lasting and machine washable, these are handmade in the UK.
Price: £14.99 for size small
Company: Ruffle Snuffle
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
2. Lickimat Buddy
Have you ever just zoned out while doing a repetitive activity, such as knitting or colouring? That repetitive movement can be quite calming for us, and licking can be equally as relaxing for our dogs. Licking releases endorphins and serotonin, which regulate anxiety and help a dog to feel calm and less anxious.
Lickimats are designed as tasty boredom busters to enhance your pet’s environment as well as benefiting their health. By spreading your pet’s favourite soft treat over the surface, you create a tasty fun game with your pup having to seek out every morsel with their tongue.
Lickimat Buddy is perfect for thick treats like dog-safe peanut butter, canned sardines in springwater (or oil drained from the can), cream cheese, natural yoghurt, canned dog food and crushed pet biscuits (soften with water). Can be frozen for a refreshing longer-lasting treat.
- Medical-free way to promote calm behaviour during stressful times, like storms, fireworks or the busy festive period
- Great for calming dogs before a procedure/treatment e.g. at vets or groomers
- Repetitive licking is soothing for your pet, releasing the calming hormone, cortisol, into the body
- No over feeding because Lickimat makes a small tasty treat last longer
- Licking enhances the sense of taste, allowing your dog to enjoy just a small amount of food
- Helps promote fresh breath by scraping off bacteria and undigested food particles from the tongue
- Stimulates saliva production and helps clean tongue, teeth and gums
- Saliva production can aid digestion as it contains enzymes like amylase
Price: £5.99
Company: Pointy Faces
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
3. Olive Wood Chews
The act of chewing has a calming and comforting effect on our dogs’ brains. It triggers the release of endorphins, and is a tool they can use to relieve boredom, anxiety and stress by self-soothing.
Chewing is often thought of as negative dog behaviour – particularly when it involves shredded shoes and furniture! But chewing actually has numerous benefits that you might not be aware of. This is where chew toys come in handy!
The benefits of dog toys for chewing include:
- improved dental health
- stress and anxiety relief
- gum relief for teething puppies
- reduced destructive chewing
- provides a positive outlet for mental stimulation
How can you keep your possessions safe but also allow your dog to enjoy all of these benefits? The key is re-directing their chewing behaviour to chew toys designed especially for dogs.
Always supervise your puppy or dog with chew toys or edible chews, so you can remove the toy if they start to rip it apart or it becomes small enough to swallow and choke on.
Dogs also need mental stimulation. Chewing is a really exciting activity for dogs and requires a lot of focus. Chew toys and interactive dog toys are great ways to build your dog’s brainpower!
Olivewood chews by Saffron Pawtique are a great way for your dog to satisfy their chewing instincts. They are made sustainably from annually harvested wood from managed olive trees. It is a close-grained wood that is harder than most native woods. It is graded, dried, sanded and then lightly infused with virgin olive oil to provide your dog with a healthy and safe chew.
Price: Small £8.45, medium £10.45, large £12.75
Discount: Get 10% off Olive Wood Chews using code DOGGYLOTTERY
Company: Saffron Pawtique
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
4. Personalised Treat Jar
A personalised treat jar for your rescue dog, filled with tasty natural fishcake bites with a minimum of 60% whitefish and potato. A lovely crunchy treat! With over 100 breed silhouettes to choose from, you’ll be able to personalise your treat jar to make a gift your rescue dog will love!
Price: Small (100g) £7, large (350g) £14
Discount: Get 10% off up until 19th December using code DogLottery10
Company: Distinctive Pets
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
5. Scandi Winter Dog Collar and Lead Set
Spoil your dog with a dog collar from the fabulous Moo Moo & Bear!
Designed with the winter season in mind featuring a contemporary look and feel, the ‘Scandi Winter’ Red Dog Collar and Optional Lead is perfect for the season ahead. All Moo Moo & Bear collars and leads are handmade in their Yorkshire studio.
Why not add an additional ‘Scandi Winter’ Red Dog Bow Tie?
Price: from £12.00
Discount: Get 10% discount on these products using the code WELOVERESCUE
Company: Moo Moo & Bear
Cool fact: Moo Moo & Bear are huge supporters of rescue dogs, supporting the Schnauzerfest registered charity over the last six years which helps with the veterinary costs of rescue puppy farmed Schnauzers.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
6. Calming Spray
Calming Floral Spray is a 100% natural calming remedy that your rescue dog will enjoy this Christmas and all year round! Calming spray starts to help immediately and calms your dog without sedating.
It helps your dogs with:
- Fireworks fear
- Motion sickness
- Hyperactivity
- Adjusting to a new environment
- Visits to vets and dog groomers
Calming Floral Spray:
- Contains high-quality essential oil & hydrosols
- Long-lasting feel-good freshness
- Suitable for large animals, including horses, donkeys, sheep, goats… and humans!
- Highly recommended by dog professionals
- Contains no perfumes
- Contains no synthetic chemicals
- Contains no synthetic pheromones
Price: £6.30 for 30ml
Discount: Get 20% off everything with the code DOGGYLOTTERY.
Doesn’t apply on products on special offer and can’t be used in conjunction with other coupons. Valid until 2/1/2022.
Company: Vita Canis
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
7. Personalised Dog Santa Sack
We know that your dog is a member of the family, so why not treat them to their very own personalised dog Christmas Santa Sack from Scruffy Little Terrier? Your dog will love to get in the festive spirit with their own Christmas sack full of presents, which they will love to rip open! Not only that, this dog Santa sack will look stylish around your Christmas tree! Personalise your pup’s Christmas stocking with their name for that extra special touch.
A large 100% premium cotton sack with a drawstring top. Fill it up and place it by the tree! This sack can be used year after year and will really make your dog enjoy all the fun on Christmas day with the rest of the family.
- 100% premium cotton
- Rope double drawcord closure
- 50 cm x 75 cm
- 38-litre capacity
- 200 gsm weight
Price: £14.95 + P&P
Discount: Get 10% discount using the code Christmas10
Company: Scruffy Little Terrier
Cool fact: For every purchase made, Scruffy Little Terrier donates a percentage from the sale to their Charity of the Year, Winston’s Wheels, a small charity that helps to keep dogs mobile.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
8. Signature Luxuries Christmas Hamper
The Signature Luxuries Christmas Hamper is the perfect festive gift for regal paws.
- Ethically sourced
- Exceedingly high quality
- 100% natural grooming products
What’s inside this beautiful hamper:
- Eco-friendly festive bauble toy by Green & Wilds
- Natures Menu turkey superfood bars with cranberries and pumpkin (100g bag)
- 70g grain-free pack of sliced duck sausage with cranberries by The Innocent Hound
- 200g lamb pate by Jr Pet Products
- Box of Christmas treats by The Innocent Hound (180g pack)
- Pack of 4 superfood sticks in cranberry and sweet potato flavour by Soopa
Price: £58
Company: Luxury Dog Hampers
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
9. Subscription Box
Collar Club is a subscription box with a difference. All of the products that are included in the boxes are made from 100% natural ingredients (if edible!) and all of the toys are made from sustainable or naturally grown materials. Collar Club champions young, up and coming brands who share their ethos and are serious about sustainability. The Christmas-themed December box is sure to be a cracker and make your pup full of joy on Christmas morning (if you can keep it hidden under the tree that long…). Collar Club offers a variety of delivery schedules to suit your needs and you can order your boxes to arrive monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly!
Price: £34.99 per box
Discount: Get 25% off your first box using the code DOGGYLOTTERY
Company: Collar Club
Cool fact: A percentage of the profit from each Collar Club subscription goes towards the brand’s Collars for Shelters project which provides collars and bandanas to dogs in need!
CLICK TO VIEW PRODUCT
10. Original DoggyWarriors Dog Bandana
The DoggyWarriors dog bandana will not only look great on your pup, but you will also be helping dogs in need with your purchase! 10% of each sale goes directly to the charity fund of DoggyLottery.
Beautie, featured here in one of our DoggyWarriors bandanas, knows all too well how important the survival of dog rescue centres is for the thousands of abandoned dogs in the UK and abroad. Our dog bandana is powerful, affordable and it’s for a good cause!
Price: Starting from £9.95 depending on size.
Discount: 15% off with code DOGLAUNCH (valid until the 10th of December)
Company: DoggyWarriors
Cool fact: 10% of all sales is donated to dogs in need.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PRODUCT
We hope you feel inspired by all of these fantastic brands and products. Hopefully we have given you plenty of wonderful gift ideas for rescue dogs!
Before you go… Searching for a dog-tastic gift for canine-obsessed friends, family members or work colleagues this Christmas? Look no further than our gift guide for rescue dog owners!
