Giving a personalised pet book as a gift without getting it wrong

A personalised pet book is a very good gift and a slightly risky one, because it depends entirely on details you may not have.

The secret-gathering problem is usually solved by a shared photo album, a sibling, or a partner. You need four or five decent photos, not forty.

Ask for stories in a sideways manner. 'What's the daftest thing she's ever done?' gets you far more usable material than 'tell me about your dog'.

If the pet has died, ask before you make it. Almost everyone wants it — but they want to know it's coming. A book that arrives unannounced on a bad week can land badly.

Order timing matters more than anything else. Build the free preview early, and place the order at least two weeks before the date you need it.

If you're truly out of time, the digital proof arrives long before the printed book — it prints beautifully at home as a stopgap card.