A calendar is a strange gift. It rarely costs much, and yet it hangs on the wall for a whole year. Longer than almost anything else you give. All the more noticeable when it isn't good.
This year we built one ourselves and sent it through the entire order process, right up to just before printing. A few things came up that are worth knowing beforehand. Most of them apply to any provider, not just us.
The most common mistake: the same picture twelve times
Looking at what is on offer, it is striking how many print one motif on all twelve sheets or take twelve snapshots from the gallery. Both have the same catch.
A calendar lives from the change of month. That short moment on the first, when you turn the page, is usually the only moment in the month when the picture is really looked at. If the same photo as before is waiting behind it, the moment is wasted.
Better is variety with a system: different shots of the same animal in different seasons, or the same animal in different depictions. What you should avoid is random selection. Twelve phone photos in twelve different lighting situations look restless on the wall, not loving.
The photo: horizontal beats vertical
This is where it snags most often, and almost nobody thinks of it beforehand. We noticed it while building our own product, before a single file went to print.
On a classic wall calendar the picture sits at the top and the date grid below it. The picture area is therefore wider than it is tall. Most phone photos, however, are vertical, because that is how you hold the phone. What happens then: it gets cropped, and either the ears or the paws are gone.
If you already know you want to order a calendar in autumn, turn your phone sideways on your next walk. Three or four shots are enough. In November you will then have something to choose from instead of a single stopgap.
What else makes a photo suitable applies to calendars as to any other pet picture. Daylight helps, but not midday sun: an overcast sky is ideal. Photographed from a crouch, a dog looks like a dog, from above more like a rug. The face should be clear, without backlight and without a lead across the picture. And close enough: if your dog is only a speck in a meadow, no editing will help.
Shaky and not quite sharp, by the way, is less bad than you think, as long as the eyes are right. What it usually fails on: strong backlight and motion blur in the face.
Paper, binding, hanger
A calendar hangs for a year. You can tell if corners were cut in the printing.
Thin paper waves as soon as it hangs, and glossy reflects every lamp in the room. Heavy and silk matt is the combination that works on an ordinary living room wall. Ours is 250 g/m² and silk matt. Other providers state their values in the product description. If nothing is stated there, that is also an answer.
As for binding, a wire-o binding at the top lasts the whole year, and the sheets turn cleanly without the rest shifting. Stapled calendars can tear out at the staple.
Not every calendar comes with a hanger. Without one, the recipient stands there on 1 January with a calendar and a paper clip.
International providers like to overlook one German peculiarity: the date grid should start on Monday. A calendar that starts on Sunday fits German everyday life poorly. You can mostly see it in the product pictures.
A calendar isn't made overnight
Most people underestimate this.
A personalised calendar is not a stock item. It is only designed after your order, then printed, then shipped. If a preview that you have to approve sits in between, that adds more time. But it is exactly this preview that stops you unwrapping a disappointment.
Our own planning basis looks like this: preview and approval one to three days, printing two to four working days, shipping one to three. In the run-up to Christmas, printers and parcel services are stretched to the limit, and each of these ranges tends to get longer rather than shorter.
As a rule of thumb: early December is the limit, with us as with others. If someone still promises you a personalised calendar on 22 December, I would look twice.
Photo or portrait?
A photo calendar shows what your animal looks like. A portrait in watercolour or oil style shows how it feels to you. The practical difference: a photo on the wall ages. You can see the season, the old carpet, the hairstyle from back then. An illustration doesn't.
There is also a tangible advantage. A mediocre photo can be turned into a good portrait. It cannot be turned into a good photo, for that only a new walk helps. If your best picture of the dog is slightly blurred or has a busy background, a designed portrait is the more honest solution.
Conversely: if you have a really strong photo where the light, the look and the moment are right, then let it be a photo. Not every picture is improved by editing.
A calendar is also a year
Something nobody writes on the shelf: a calendar with your own animal doesn't just measure the days, it also measures the time you have together. With a puppy you see that with joy. With an old dog you see it differently.
This thought is not sad but right. For twelve months, someone you love hangs on the wall, and you look at them briefly every morning. That is more than most gifts manage.
If that resonates with you, choose the style accordingly. Watercolour turns soft and warm, oil painting calm and serious. Cartoon is the right choice if the aim is to laugh when looking at it.
Seven questions before ordering
- Do I have a horizontal photo in daylight, at eye level, with a clear face?
- Is there variety over the year, or does the same picture hang twelve times?
- Is the paper heavy and silk matt rather than thin and glossy?
- Wire binding and hanger included?
- Date grid with Monday as the start of the week?
- Do I see the result before printing and can I still change something?
- How long does it take from order to delivery?
Why ours is not a photo calendar
Our Pet Wall Calendar 2027 doesn't print your photo, it turns it into a portrait in the style of your choice. You upload a photo and choose three styles out of six: Watercolour, Cartoon, 3D Cartoon, Minimal, Oil Painting or Royal. We design your animal in all three, and they alternate over the year, four months per style. So at the change of month there really is something new to see.
Within 48 hours you receive all three motifs as a preview. If something doesn't fit, we change it for free. Printing only happens after your yes. A4 vertical, 250 g/m² silk matt, wire binding with hanger, German date grid, printed and shipped in Europe.
It works for dogs, cats and horses alike. 20% of our profit goes to animal welfare. Which projects receive the money is chosen by our community from autumn 2027 by vote on our YouTube channel.
If you are still undecided whether a calendar or rather a picture on the wall is the right gift: we have written up why a phone photo is enough for a dog portrait, what it costs and how long it takes. And if you are still right at the start of your gift search, there is our list of gifts for dog owners that don't end up in the cupboard.
New in the shop: cushion and notebook with your animal, in the style of your choice.
Further reading
- Giving a dog portrait as a gift: a phone photo is enough: the calculation for one picture instead of twelve months
- Taking dog photos yourself: so the horizontal shot is already there in autumn
- Gifts for dog owners that don't end up in the cupboard: in case it should be something else after all
Where the information comes from: paper weight, binding, format and place of production refer to the specification of our own calendar. The time ranges for preview, printing and shipping are our own planning basis and not an external source. The notes on paper, binding and date grid are based on building and testing our own product, not on a comparison of providers. As of: 18.09.2026.
