Your Dog – December 2025

Summary

Your Dog December 2025 (£5.99), Britain's best-selling dog magazine, leads with FESTIVE DOG DAYS OUT! and 10 ways to make your dog part of Christmas traditions. The cover also carries Inside The Dog House at Woodgreen, emergency stop training, and a SnuggleSafe Bonzo cushion prize with three to win.

Editor Mike Hallam writes his final letter, leaving after working for the magazine since March 2013. His most prized memory is a feature on canine epilepsy, interviewing the women behind the Canine Epilepsy Support Group and promoting it.

Lucy Evans's Christmas traditions page at p8 gives the issue's specifics: a Festive Friends Advent Calendar with 24 drawers from rexlondon.com, Dobbies doubling Santa Paws slots from Friday 29 November to Christmas Eve, Lily's Kitchen's Turkey with Ham and All The Trimmings, and a Doggy Daycare Christmas Stocking from sophieallport.com.

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Content Guide

▸ Editor's Letter

p.4 · A farewell from the editor
Mike Hallam writes his last welcome, leaving Your Dog after starting in March 2013. His most prized memory is writing a feature on canine epilepsy, interviewing the women who founded the Canine Epilepsy Support Group, and promoting the group. Editors leaving are the moments readers actually notice. Read his letter first, before the festive pages.

▸ Christmas

p.8 · 10 ways to make your dog part of Christmas traditions — Lucy Evans
Freelance writer Lucy Evans, who owns a rescue dog called Chocco, sets out ten ways. She recommends the Festive Friends Advent Calendar from rexlondon.com with 24 reusable drawers. Dobbies has doubled Santa Paws booking slots this year, running from Friday 29 November to Christmas Eve, where dogs play a sniff-ari, have a photo with Santa and receive a present, at dobbies.com. Lily's Kitchen's Christmas Dinner is Turkey with Ham and All The Trimmings, and sophieallport.com sells a Doggy Daycare Christmas Stocking. A 24-drawer calendar is the detail that makes the page usable. Book one Santa Paws slot before they fill.

▸ Features

p.14 · Inside The Dog House — Woodgreen
The feature goes behind the scenes at Woodgreen, the rescue centre where Channel 4's The Dog House is filmed, with a "woodgreen 14 Welcome Centre" on the page. The source gives no founding year, size or intake figures. Television rescues are how most people meet rehoming. Support one rescue before you watch the next episode.

p.22 · Spotted — Dogs around the world
Great dog scenes from around the world get a page. Global dog pictures are the lightest, most shareable page. Send one picture of your own dog.

p.36 · Dog days out — Festive days out with your dog
The cover's festive days out feature. Winter walks are the season owners shorten most. Plan one festive walk this month.

p.40 · Pup crawl — The best dog-friendly pubs
The best dog-friendly pubs in your area. Pub stops are the reason winter walks work. Check one pub's dog rules before you go.

p.44 · Emergency stop! — Teaching a reliable stop
Teaching your dog to stop on command. A stop is the command that saves a dog's life. Practise one emergency stop this week.

p.48 · Real life — The dog who lives at a cat rescue
A dog living at a cat rescue gets the real-life story. Unlikely friendships are the reason owners read dog magazines. Read one before you assume dogs and cats cannot mix.

▸ Regulars

p.6 · Breathtaking views — Blea Tarn
Blea Tarn sits in the heart of the Lake District, 9 miles from Ambleside and 13 from Windermere station. It is just 277m long, with a lakeside circuit of about two-thirds of a mile taking around 30 minutes, and a longer 2.5-mile loop past the Lingmoor Fell viewpoint towards the Langdale Pikes. It starts from a National Trust car park, dogs are welcome, and care is needed where there is livestock. Two hundred and seventy-seven metres is the number that tells you how small it is. Walk one short tarn circuit with your dog this month.

p.21 · Dog-friendly diary — December events
December's dog-friendly events are listed. Event diaries are the most-used page in a seasonal issue. Book one event before it sells out.

p.24 · Community — Reader photographs
Readers' pets fill the community page. Community pages are the truest thing in any magazine. Send one photograph this month.

p.26 · New products — Four new products
Four new dog products are featured. Product pages are advertising readers trust. Check one product before you buy it.

p.29 · Breed profile — The gentle giant
One of the world's largest breeds is profiled. Breed profiles are the pages read before choosing a dog. Read the health section before the size.

p.32 · Bone voyage! — Farewell to Tony Cruse
The magazine says goodbye to resident trainer Tony Cruse. Long-running columnists are why readers subscribe. Try one of Tony's methods this week.

p.46 · Vet diary — Vicky Payne on when to say goodbye
Vet Vicky Payne writes on knowing when it is time to say goodbye. The goodbye conversation is the hardest thing an owner faces. Read it before you need it, not after.

p.51 · Dog answers — Solving your dog problems
Reader dog problems are answered. Problem pages are the most useful thing in a monthly. Send in one question of your own.

▸ Offers and Team

Win and subscribe
Three readers can win a SnuggleSafe Bonzo dog companion cushion. Twelve issues cost £60 with a free Your Dog Treat Box, at bit.ly/YDSubOffer or 01778 395177, quoting DOGS/MAG/TREATBOX26, UK new subscribers only. Check the code before you subscribe.

DIRTBAG advertising
DIRTBAG compostable poo bags are advertised: 100% plastic-free and home compostable, degrading fully in 180 days with no microplastics, 80% less waste when incinerated, water-based eco inks and FSC-certified packaging, with each pack sold helping the Jakarta Animal Aid Network rescue and release endangered turtles. Advertising with a number is more useful than a slogan. Compare one bag's claim with your own bin.

Team
Contributors include Andrea McHugh, Jacqueline Boyd, Joanne Bednall, Tony Cruse, Toni Shelbourne, Vicky Payne and Jackie Drakeford. Marketing is led by Lucie Cox and Vicki Gates, with Nathaniel Cureton as deputy content editor, Nigel Fish on design and Natalie Reynolds and Sarah Machin on production. Named teams show who is accountable. Email one contributor this month.

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Editor's Take

The Blea Tarn page is the reason Your Dog December 2025 is worth opening: 9 miles from Ambleside, 13 from Windermere, a tarn just 277m long, a two-thirds-of-a-mile circuit in about 30 minutes and a 2.5-mile loop past Lingmoor Fell is a walk described in numbers an owner can drive to. Lucy Evans's Christmas page is the most usable festive list in any issue, with 24 drawers, Dobbies doubling Santa Paws from Friday 29 November, and a named Lily's Kitchen dinner. Mike Hallam's farewell after starting in March 2013, with the canine epilepsy feature as his proudest memory, gives the issue a real ending. Weakest is the middle: Woodgreen has no figures, the gentle giant has no breed named, and the days out, pubs and emergency stop pages are listed by title only. The DIRTBAG advertising gives better data than the features. Buy this for Blea Tarn and the farewell; the features are titles.

Strengths
• Blea Tarn gives 277m, 9 and 13 miles, 30 minutes
• Christmas page gives 24 drawers and 29 November
• Editor's farewell gives March 2013 and a real memory
• DIRTBAG gives 180 days and 80%

Weaknesses
• Woodgreen has no founding year or intake figures
• Gentle giant breed is never named
• Most features listed by title only

Verdict: Selective read — Blea Tarn, Christmas and the farewell.