Scotland’s for me

If you are thinking of a city break, please do consider Glasgow. On this visit we discovered the Ubiquitous Chip, a smashing restaurant and bar which ticked all the rare afternoon off boxes. The locals call it The Chip and you’ll find it on Ashton Lane which is also well worth a visit.

The trade show itself was a delight as this time we were situated opposite the Walkers shortbread stand and Stewart Tower Dairy who treated us to the best sample pots of ice-cream for the full three days. What a joy to have free ice-cream and shortbread to perk up a long tradeshow day. What’s also nice about doing the Glasgow show is that it’s provided us with an escape from the NEC. Having exhibited at the NEC for over twenty-five years we hadn’t realised just how much we needed a change. The Scottish fresh air has been artistically and emotionally revitalising!

Having just reread my words I think I can now see why my jeans aren’t fitting. Food. I might be obsessed! And to think I had recently been harbouring suspicions that someone was sneaking into my home and deliberately putting all my knickers on a super hot wash. In fact you can spot my food focus in a growing number of my greeting card captions. Opps! Had you already noticed but were being too polite to say?

Pillow Life Hack

Glasgow was also good for discovering the Pillow Life Hack. I’d first heard about this after listening to the Fortunately podcast with Fi & Jane. Jane always takes her own pillow when staying away from home. To be honest I initially thought this was a tiny bit precious but our accommodation reviews repeatedly mentioned hard pillows, so I gave it a go. Trust me, it’s a game changer. 5 days in a hotel bed but with my own pillow. It was like home from home but without all the washing, abandoned cornflake encrusted cereal bowls and dog hair. I would highly recommend!

  Want a quick peak at our new spring offerings?

Fancy a quick peak at our Coming Soons? Exasperatingly, our new spring lines have been delayed till mid March which obviously plays havoc with dispatch and cashflow but when they do finally arrive in stock I promise you’ll be the first to know. I’ve been designing and sampling since last summer and hope you like the stronger bursts of colour. Debuting this spring we have lots of new gift ideas plus I’ve also added more designs to our popular ranges including zip purses, cushions, coasters, bookmarks and greeting cards. The new range of cushions have had a fabric facelift and are now made from the same super soft fabric as the zip purses. They are so touchy-feely and will hopefully add a square of sumptuous eye-catching colour to a room.

Lens cleaning cloths, perfect for spectacle and or phone users.

Thermos Cups, great for early morning brews and dog walking.

Pen Pots. I really hope you like these as much as we do because they look and feel so good.

Key-rings because it’s nice to personalise your bunches of responsibility!

Password Notebooks. Very useful memory nudges in this increasingly cryptic digital world

The aforementioned super soft new fabric cushions

We’ve Had Some Nice News

Our nice news came at the start of January with not one but two of our new gift lines being shortlisted in the retail industries Gift of the Year 2025 competition. You may remember we won last year in the charity section with our Dogs Trust gift book so we could be on for a double-bubble!

This year our Pet Treat Tins have been shortlisted in the Affordable Gift Category & Pet Category and our new Dog Walking Bags are also in the Pet Category. Apparently 120 buyers voted on over 900 new products so we are quietly super chuffed to have made the shortlist again. The finalists get announced on the 19th of February but to be absolutely honest, we are unlikely to make it through to the final, so here’s to the joy of being shortlisted!

And actually, your website response to our dog walking bags has already added a jaunty skip to our step. We had enough bags to put a sample quantity on the website in December and were thrilled when the navy colour-way sold out in under 36 hours. If you are already an owner of our dog walking bags, then a heartfelt thank you for purchasing one and also, how are you finding it? Spurred on by the sales reaction we are currently working on additional colour-way options, so if you have any comments or tweaks, feedback and reviews are always warmly welcomed and always a help.

It’s Competition Time

Search for a Superstar 2026

 The Little Dog Laughed 2026 Calendar Competition

In a couple of weeks I will be opening the email lines for our 2026 calendar and diary competition but as a VIP perk and thank you for your loyal Little Dog support, I thought you might like to enter your furry ones first. For anyone who is new-ish to this competition, the criteria is pretty simple. It’s free to enter, the only cost is the time it takes you to email me your favourite photos and wax lyrical about your dogs and or cats! Previous winners are more than welcome to enter again. You can submit any number of dog and cat photos, including any of those who are no longer with you. You can also enter on someone else’s half.

Boost your chances by …

Sending a variety of poses or different locations or action shots as I like to ensure the calendar pages have a good mix. Clear, colour photos are great. Black and white or sepia are a no-no. And if you have time to give as much background story detail as possible, this can make all the difference. Often it is the anecdotes and little details that pique my interest the most.

How to Enter?

Email me at studio@thelittledog.co.uk with the subject title Dog Superstar 2026 or Cat Superstar 2026 

The competition will open to the wider public early March so if you’d like to be considered send your photos in early!

The Prizes

A bespoke print of the finished artwork.

A complimentary sample of the calendar and or diary when it’s printed.

Complimentary samples of any future products the artwork may later appear on.

Automatic entry into the Little Dog’s Hall of Fame with lifelong honorary member 20% discounts.

 I am always so grateful that you take the time to share your loved ones with me. I never get bored reading your emails and scrolling through the photos. The genuine love and joy that arrives with each entry always restores my hope in humanity, even when some of your anecdotes reduce me to tears! Good luck and may the furry gorgeous love and luck be with you.

Discover if your furry one has become a Greeting Card star!

Already squealed at the sight of your gorgeous one? This spring we have 21 new dog and cat greeting card designs and one could very well be your furry loved one! As some of you are sadly more than aware, I was obviously at the back of the queue and facing the wrong way when they were handing out admin skills. Throw in middle age and hormonal drops and to be completely honest it’s a huge Winning at Life day if I’ve walked the dog, made dinner and remembered a dental appointment. So, for speed, by clicking here New In you can quickly see if your furry one is now a greeting card superstar and then nudge me for complimentary samples by emailing me at studio@thelittledog.co.uk. If you could repeat your preferred delivery address, that would be a great help.  I am waiting for the aforementioned delayed spring stock delivery so that I can send out gift parcels in one batch but I’ll aim to get the muses who are currently only on a greeting card sent off next week.

Coming Up | Crufts, Dogs Trust & Gift Boxes

Before I leave you in peace and settle down to some new artwork, I just wanted to briefly mention what’s coming up in March. Obviously Crufts, the greatest and maddest dog show on earth and the chance to say hello again to those we meet each year. Plus there is the traditional McD’s show breakfast and a two day chinwag with my longest serving pal Little Jo. It’s a rare and wonderful thing to sit with your bestie for a solid 48 hours with the background soundtrack of barking dogs and let the conversation go beyond catching up on life gossip. I’ll also aim to repeat the Crufts@Home website sale so if you can’t make it to the actual show you can console yourself with some Little Dog online bargains!

Also still to come is more Dogs Trust news and a return visit to the Loughborough rescue centre to present the fundraising cheque total. Keeping everything crossed that this time there will be puppies to sniff and cuddle. I’ll do a proper thank you separately but really just wanted to say how grateful I am to everyone who has shopped online and then added a Dogs Trust donation at the checkout. Collectively, with £1 here, £2 there, you’ve help raised well over 2k to add to the Dogs Trust fundraising pot. I’m so proud and grateful to you all, especially considering everyone’s pennies are having to stretch that much further these days.

And finally, keep your eyes peeled to the website because I’m in the process of creating some letterbox gift and present gift set boxes which will be exclusive to us, beautifully presented and full of lovely dog and cat related goodies. They might be nice for sending directly to fellow animal loving family and friends.

Okay, it really is time to go but I’ll leave you with my personal favourite new card design. Fresh Air Therapy is in loving memory of  Cypriot rescue Skyla – star of on my Not Sofa design. Heartbreakingly for her family, Skyla passed away far too young but she is the reason and inspiration for me having my own Romanian rescue and I will always be so grateful to Natalie for sharing with me how she adopted Skyla.

Take care folks, all the very best, Anna Danielle