Wedding cake topper with your dog

• A figure made from your photos: clay sculpted by hand, or a bobblehead.
• A flat silhouette in wood or acrylic. Some shops cut the outline from your photo. Others sell from a breed list.
• A dog sold alone, to stand next to a couple topper.
• A fondant dog from your baker. It gets eaten with the cake.

A breed figure looks like the breed. A figure made from photos aims to look like your own dog. Pick clay or a bobblehead if you want to keep the dog on a shelf after the wedding.

The dog does not have to stand on top. Some couples hide a small dog figure on a lower tier. A dog can also make the topper bigger, so ask the maker for the final size before your baker plans the top tier.

We found the pet share by comparing the price with and without a pet inside each listing, at the same size. Most shops that priced a pet sculpt their figures by hand. Source: our scan of Etsy, Sept 2026.

Read what the low price on a listing buys. Some listings open on a price that buys only the pet figure, or only the pet add-on, not the couple.

For the price of the couple figure itself, see what a custom cake topper costs.

We bought 8 toppers from other makers to compare them. One was a clay couple with their goldendoodle, from an Etsy shop. Along with photos of the couple, we sent one of them with the dog and a close-up of the dog. Those two are below.

The couple with the dog

The dog close-up

Two days in, the shop asked for one more photo: one of the couple standing next to the dog, to get its size right. In the first proofs, we asked for a happier dog face and longer ears. The shop sent 5 rounds of proofs, the most of any maker in our test.

The topper came weeks later than the shop first said. The dog came out best: its curly white coat and floppy ears make it easy to recognize. The bride did not look like the real bride.

See every photo and receipt in our topper test.

In our order, two things decided how the dog came out: the photos and the proofs. Send these:

• A sharp close-up of the dog's face in daylight.
• The whole dog, standing or sitting the way you want it on the cake.
• One of you standing next to the dog, so the maker gets its size right.
• A close-up of any markings or patches.

Then check the dog in every proof, not only your faces. Ask for changes before the maker starts on the figure.

We make toppers of two people. We do not add pets yet.

Can we add two dogs, or a dog and a cat?

Often, yes. Couples add cats and other pets too. Many shops charge the same add-on again for each pet. Some set a limit, such as up to three dogs on a clay figure or up to four on a bobblehead.

Our dog has died. Can the topper still include them?

Yes. Some makers sell memorial toppers made from your photos. Send the clearest photos you have, and tell the maker which details matter most.