Every dog parent knows the moment: the wrapping paper barely hits the floor before the toy is airborne, followed by a squeak, then another, then a full lap around the living room and a round of zoomies. People love watching dogs lose their minds in pure, joyful chaos, and it genuinely never gets old. What most people don’t realize is that this exact moment is what we have in mind every time we design a new toy at BARK.
Our team at BARK, the company behind BarkBox, is more than dog-obsessed. We live and breathe dog joy year-round, but the holidays are when things get truly unhinged. The stakes are high, the creative energy is loud, and our office dogs become even more opinionated than usual, which is really saying something.
After years of doing this, we’ve learned what separates a great holiday toy from one forgotten under the couch by New Year’s. It comes down to this: every toy we make is for the dog first. But the best ones also give the human watching something to enjoy, from the sound, the story and the moment of watching their dog completely lose it with joy. That balance is the whole game.
The Secret Sauce
Designing for two audiences at once takes more balance than it sounds. For the dog, that’s the squeak, the crinkle, a toy-within-a-toy to dig into, something worth tugging back against – the sensory stuff that makes a toy actually fun to play with. For the human, it’s the storytelling and the humor. Dogs pick up on human reactions almost immediately, so the more the human loses it, the more the dog leans in. The whole experience becomes something shared between the pup and their parent. Dogs don’t just want a toy, they want to have the moment with their person, and that distinction is really the whole thing.
When we kick off a holiday collection, we start with the cultural landscape – the festive icons and nostalgic films everyone rewatches every year, and the smaller details that just feel like the season. That’s given us a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer collection, a Home Alone lineup, toys inspired by the Muppets, and things like a gingerbread man, Santa’s Jolly Cookie Jar, or a cactus Christmas tree. From there we ask ourselves: how do we put our hilarious, dog-first BARK spin on it? How do we make a dog parent laugh before their dog even gets their paws on the toy?
Dog parents and family friends want gifts that reflect that relationship. These presents have to feel one-of-a-kind, and they have to make the dog go completely, joyfully bananas.
We believe, full stop, that dogs are family members. They’re on the couch with us, front and center in our holiday cards, right beside us unwrapping gifts with the kids. They’re also deeply opinionated about everything, from food to guests, and especially toys. One of the things I’m most proud of, and something I don’t think BARK gets enough credit for, is how seriously we take the research side of what we do. People see the funny, colorful, chaotic toys and assume it’s a creative free-for-all, which of course it is. But the process underneath has real layers.
We test extensively with the dogs in our office, our truest collaborators, brought in at every stage to react to prototypes and tell us in no uncertain terms what is and isn’t working. There’s no focus group on earth more honest than a dog who’s simply not interested in your toy.
Outside the office, we also use our state-of-the-art toy testing lab, equipped with technology that mimics realistic play, from chomping, dropping to pulling, tugging, thrashing, general wear and tear. Many of our designers came from kids’ toys, and we’ve brought those testing mechanisms into the world of dogs, including dog jaw replicas built to simulate the play behaviors of breeds from Pitbulls to Chihuahuas to Boxers to German Shepherds, so our products are made with every type of dog in mind. We also consult with veterinarians on safety precautions, thinking carefully about everything from squeaker size to seam construction. We design our toys to fail safely, because dogs are wonderfully destructive and fun should always come first.
Designing for the Senses
To me, the most holiday-centric materials are typically one of two things: cozy or unashamedly sparkly — the kind of textures that feel like a gift the moment you touch them and look incredible sitting next to a tree.
Each year we challenge ourselves to do something new: foil or tinsel plush that nods to the Christmas tree, since dogs go wild for the crinkle and humans love the shimmer, or plaid because it goes hand-in-hand with the winter months. We’ve also experimented with scented toys, which add an olfactory dimension dogs are completely here for as they dive in nose-first.
Beyond materials, I think about play mechanics. The toys that really land are the ones that bring the whole family together, including fetch toys, tug toys or anything that requires the human to actually show up and participate. Those play styles are inherently social, and designing for them creates real holiday spirit. Our new Licksters toy combines entertainment and enrichment via a wobbly, bouncing toy that gives dogs up to 40 minutes of lick-based play and a probiotic-boosted peanut butter treat. For when humans need to focus on hosting prep, it helps to have something that’ll keep dogs busy.
What I’d Put Under the Tree This Year
If you ask me what the ideal holiday dog toy looks like, my honest answer is a premium plush loaded with sensory goodness: soft and cozy textiles, an oversized squeaker, a little crinkle, maybe some tinsel to make my dogs go bananas. I’m always happiest watching them play with one of their toys, especially if I helped design it. This year, we’re excited to bring some fan favorites to life in festive form. Keep an eye out for holiday versions of Ollie and Bertha, coming soon, along with the return of our BARK Advent Calendar at Costco for another season of daily surprises.
That’s really what BARK is making. More than toys, we’re building an experience that goes beyond the squeaker and makes the dog and parent smile from ear to ear. We want the dog parent excited before the toy hits the floor, and we want the dog to pick up that energy and run with it — literally, zooming around the house to show it off.
We have an absolute blast building our holiday products each year, and underneath all of that joy is a genuine belief that the moment a great toy lands in front of a dog, that contagious positive energy fills the whole house. That’s the gift we’re really in the business of giving. The zoomies, as always, are just a bonus.
Derek Rippe has served as the vice president of product design at BARK for the past 7 years, following a career that includes over a decade overseeing toys at Nickelodeon across franchises like SpongeBob, Paw Patrol, and Ninja Turtles, creating plush characters for FAO Schwartz and even designing cosmetic packaging for RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Trixie Mattel. He brings every bit of that wide-ranging expertise to BARK, where he’s built an entire library of toy characteristics that make great play possible at scale.
