Christmas Dog Gift Box: What to Put In It
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A dog's Christmas present has one job, which is to still be in use on December 26. This box holds four things that clear that bar: a stocking shaped fetch toy, a plaid tug, a bag of freeze-dried dog ice cream, and the cheddar and liver pairing we sell as a single item. The rest of what we build sits on the bundle guides hub, and this is the December entry in the gifting cluster.
Buying for a dog you will watch open it
Most holiday dog gifts get bought in a checkout line in the third week of December. They photograph beautifully under a tree and last about four days. Shopping early enough to think about it lets you buy for how the dog actually plays. That usually means one toy for fetch, one toy that needs a person holding the other end, and something to eat that is not a biscuit shaped like a snowman. The liver bag in the duo is the reward tier we describe in our guide to training with high value dog treats, so the food half of this box keeps working in January.
Skip it if the dog is not yours and you have not asked. Two of the four items are food, and one of them contains peanuts and dairy.
The stocking, the tug and the two bags
The Holiday Stocking Dog Toy is shaped like a Christmas stocking and is not one. American Dog built it for fetch lovers and tuggers of any size, sewn from 1680 ballistic fabric at 10 inches by 5 inches, in red or green. There is no squeaker in it. It crinkles when a dog grabs it and it floats, which is the difference between a December toy and a year round one. Pick green if the dog loses things in snow.
The Fire Hose Holiday Scarf Tug is the two person game of the pair. It measures 5 by 8 by 6 inches, in a red and green plaid, with triple box X center stitching where a tug toy takes the most strain. American Dog lists it as great for aggressive players, which is their language for a dog that pulls hard with its whole body. Squeakerless again, so a living room full of relatives stays a few decibels quieter.
Pup-Ornaut Ice Cream is freeze-dried rather than frozen, which trips people up every time. It comes out of the bag light and crunchy and it will not melt on a rug. The full ingredient list is nonfat Greek yogurt, banana, and peanut butter made from dry roasted peanuts and sea salt, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Reseal the bag once it is open.
The Cheddar and Beef Liver Duo is the part of the box that gets used up. One bag of freeze-dried cheddar, one bag of freeze-dried beef liver, with the liver offered in a 3 or 6 ounce size chosen at checkout. Cheddar is the everyday reward and liver is the one you hold back for the recall that has to work. Both are single ingredient, and both come out of our kitchen rather than a partner's.
No edible ornaments, no squeaky plush
Half the holiday dog boxes online lead with a plush snowman that squeaks. A squeaker is the first thing out of a toy and the stuffing is the second, usually before New Year's Eve, and a house with visitors in it does not need another noise. We also left out the hanging edible ornament. Teaching a dog that food lives on the tree is a lesson that outlasts the season by a considerable margin.
Wrapping and the first week after
Wrap the toys separately from the food. Dogs open the food first, every time, and a dog working on a bag of ice cream will not notice a tug toy sitting under the paper next to it.
Open the scarf tug while people are around, because it needs someone holding the other end. Save the stocking toy for the yard or the hallway the next morning, when the house is quieter and a thrown toy is not going to take out a glass of something. Break the ice cream pieces smaller for a small dog. Keep the duo closed until the decorations come down, then start using cheddar for ordinary repetitions and liver for the ones that matter.
Supervise tug and fetch. Retire the stocking toy when a seam starts to fray, which is the same rule American Dog states across their whole range, since no dog toy is indestructible.
What the box replaces
One order instead of four separate impulse buys across December. Two toys that float instead of a plush that gets opened up on the carpet. The food half replaces the tin of assorted biscuits somebody always brings, and unlike the tin it has a job in February. Protein, life stage and format are all filters on our explore page if you would rather build a different mix yourself, and the rest of the freeze-dried treats we make sit there too.
Questions about gifting treats
Does the dog ice cream need a freezer?
No. It is freeze-dried, not frozen, so it lives in a cupboard and travels in a car without going anywhere near a cooler. That also means it can be wrapped in advance and sit under a tree for two weeks without any trouble.
My dog destroys soft toys in a day. Is the stocking worth it?
The stocking toy is sewn from 1680 ballistic fabric and has no squeaker, which is a different build from a plush. American Dog is direct that no toy is indestructible, so a determined dog will still find the seam eventually. Supervise, and take it away when the stitching goes.
Can I give this to a dog that is not mine?
Ask first. The ice cream contains peanuts and dairy, the duo contains dairy, and plenty of households are steering around one of those. The two toys are the easier half of the box to hand over without a conversation.
How it ships
The box arrives in two deliveries, which is worth knowing if you are working back from a date. Both toys come out of Denver. American Dog items are sold and shipped by American Dog through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
The ice cream and the duo ship from us in Malvern. Order the toys first if the calendar is tight.
Related guides
Three neighbors of this page cover the other occasions a box like this gets built for.
