The birthday dog, on a shirt for the humans
Dog birthdays and gotcha days come with cake, candles and about a hundred photos. This adds a shirt for you to wear in them: the birthday dog in a party hat, made from a photo of your own dog and shown on the shirt before you pay.
Count 12 business days back from the day before the birthday: 17 to 19 days ahead.
The preview is free · printed to order
When to order: count 12 business days back
Shirts arrive in 7-12 business days, and we plan birthdays on the slow end. Take the last weekday before the birthday, count back 12 business days without weekends or federal holidays, and that's your order-by date. Or find the birthday's weekday here:
| Birthday | Order by the | Days ahead |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Wednesday before | 19 |
| Tuesday | Thursday before | 19 |
| Wednesday | Friday before | 19 |
| Thursday | Monday before | 17 |
| Friday | Tuesday before | 17 |
| Saturday | Wednesday before | 17 |
| Sunday | Wednesday before | 18 |
A federal holiday inside those weeks moves the date one business day earlier. Some shirts arrive at the fast end, 7 business days, but a birthday is a bad day to find out which kind yours is.
Birthday looks
Birthday Pup is built for the day itself. The other three suit a birthday dog without putting a party hat on it.
A coral party hat with yellow polka dots, a cupcake with one lit striped candle and a burst of paper confetti behind. One flame instead of a number keeps it right at any age; the age goes in the text line.
A jewelled gold crown and a red velvet cape trimmed with ermine, gold rays fanning out behind: for the dog who runs the house all year and is officially in charge today.
Five cutouts of the birthday dog over an electric-blue nebula and white lightning, the name arched across the top in chrome-gold capitals, up to twelve letters. Black, pepper or navy only.
A giant pink-iced doughnut with sprinkles worn as a collar, one bite already gone, for a dog whose birthday wish is the same as every other day's.
Gotcha days and birthdays nobody knows
Plenty of rescue dogs arrive without a known birthday, so the day they came home becomes it. The text line takes 24 characters, enough for “Home since 2022” or “Gotcha day no. 3”, placed above or below the artwork and shown on the shirt before you approve.
For a first birthday, either photo is fair: the puppy one is the dog you brought home, the recent one is the dog having the party. The artwork follows whichever you upload. It doesn't age a puppy or make an old dog young.
Getting the birthday face
Before the cake, not after
A dog with frosting on its nose gets printed with frosting on its nose. Take the photo before anything edible comes out.
Leave the real party hat off
Birthday Pup draws its own hat. A real one in the photo covers the top of the head and sits at a different angle, which leaves the scene less of your dog to work with.
Sing to get the head tilt
A dog hearing Happy Birthday sung badly will often tilt its head and lift its ears. Hold the shutter down through the first line and keep the frame with the tilt.
Daylight, even for an evening party
Party lighting is warm and dim, which makes a phone photo soft and orange. Take the portrait by a window earlier in the day; the design adds its own confetti.
Already inside the 12 days?
Order the shirt anyway and save the design to its own link. At the party, that link is the present: the birthday dog on the shirt, on your phone, passed around the room. The shirt itself turns up a week or two later and gets a second round of photos.
Birthday shirt questions
Does the dog wear this shirt?＋
No. It's an adult tee for the people at the party, S to 2XL, with the birthday dog printed on the chest; the dog gets its party hat in the picture instead.
Can the shirt say how old my dog is?＋
Yes, in the text line: 24 characters fits "Biscuit turns 5" with room to spare. The candle in Birthday Pup is a single flame rather than a number, so the age only ever comes from what you type.
Can everyone at the party have one?＋
Yes. Put the design in the cart once for each guest, choosing a size and shirt colour every time. Each costs $34.99, with US shipping free on all of them.
It's a friend's dog's birthday. Can it go straight to them?＋
Yes: enter their address as the shipping address and the order emails still come to you. You'll need a photo of their dog that you took yourself or that they've shared with you.
Photo tips by breed
Party-hat faces come in every shape. These breed pages cover the photo and the shirt colour for each coat.
dachshund · chihuahua · beagle · corgi · pug · boston terrier · samoyed · labrador · more breeds
Party hat optional
One photo of the birthday dog and a free preview. Order by the date in the table and it arrives before the candles do.