Custom pet figurine: your dog or cat from a single photo

People usually think of this figurine in three situations. The owner who wants their dog on the desk because they spend all day apart. The friend or relative looking for a gift for someone whose pet is their favorite topic of conversation. And the family who wants to hold on to the memory of an aging pet, or one that’s already gone.

For a gift, one question settles it: does the person talk about their pet like a member of the family? If so, an object with a paw print on it will touch them less than a portrait of their own dog. For dog people, the figurine often puts both on one base, owner and dog together. For cat lovers, it’s the alternative to yet another mug with whiskers.

To be honest, a figurine isn’t the only good answer. A nicely framed photo costs less and looks great on a wall. A plush toy is cuddly but rarely looks like the animal. A figurine, on the other hand, can be seen from every angle and kept close by: that’s its charm. It suits anyone who wants to recognize their pet at a glance, on a desk or a nightstand. If you’re still torn between several ideas for someone you love, there are more in our personalized gift ideas, and for the holidays in our guide to the personalized Christmas gift.

Two sandy Labradors look alike from a distance; their owners tell them apart at a glance. You rarely recognize a pet by its breed, and almost always by a few details:

• the silhouette: stocky or slender, round or long, a bushy tail or a thin one;
• the markings: one white paw, a patch around the eye, a muzzle gone gray with age;
• the ears: pricked, floppy, or one of each;
• the posture: sitting bolt upright, lying like a sphinx, head tilted to one side.

Check these points one by one on your preview. If one is off, you correct it in one sentence, for example “the white patch goes down to the chest” or “the ears hang lower,” and only that element is reworked. You have five edits per creation: enough to get the coat right, then the expression. Your first creation needs no account; for more edits, a free account is all it takes.

Dogs and cats show their character in different ways. With a dog, the face says it all: the open mouth after a run, the pricked ears when the doorbell rings. A cat, on the other hand, tends to dodge the camera, and that’s not a problem: a photo where she’s looking away is enough. Her personality lies in her gaze and her coat, tabby, tortoiseshell or two-tone, and that’s exactly what you check on the preview. Besides dogs and cats, the workshop also sculpts rabbits. For any other animal, please ask us before ordering; the address is at the bottom of every page.

Three compositions are possible, and the choice depends mostly on the photo you have.

On its own, your pet is made from 8 to 15 cm (3.1 to 5.9 inches). The smallest height fits in one hand; the tallest shows the coat’s pattern best. You keep the posture from the photo, or choose sitting or lying down.

With their human, the scene changes: the dog on a lap, the cat in someone’s arms, both side by side after a walk. The person is then sculpted in the Classic style, with natural proportions, or as a more playful Big Head; the pet stands next to them, slightly in front, or under a hand resting on its back. The heights for each style are in our size comparison. If you choose Big Head for the owner, their head can even bob from 15 cm: everything about it is in our custom bobblehead guide.

With the family, finally, one base holds up to 13 people and 4 pets: the kids, the parents, the dog and the cat, from the photo on the couch or in the yard.

One rule applies to all three: a FIGU is made from a single photo where everyone appears. Photos can’t be combined. If your dog and cat stubbornly refuse to pose together, patience helps more than any technique: a quiet evening on the couch, phone at the ready, and sooner or later the two end up side by side on their own. If that photo never happens, there’s always the option of two figurines, one for each pet, each from its own photo.

You don’t need a perfect photo or a professional camera. A phone photo is enough, even blurry, crooked or taken from a distance, and your pet doesn’t need to look at the camera. The only real limit: its head has to be in the picture. A dog seen only from behind won’t do.

Far more important than image quality is the moment. Ask yourself which scene you’d like to see your pet in every day:

• the dog with the ball in its mouth, proud after a walk;
• the cat curled up on her favorite cushion;
• the rabbit in the middle of munching a carrot;
• the old dog in his spot by the front door, where he always waits.

The posture in the photo can be kept as it is: a picture of a favorite spot gives a figurine that belongs right there. A black cat or a white dog doesn’t need a special shot either. The free preview shows you what comes out, and if a shade isn’t right, you describe it in one sentence.

And if the preview doesn’t convince you, simply try another photo without paying anything. Often it’s the second or third picture that shows their character best, because it tells a different moment: the sleepy face on a lazy morning rather than the well-behaved portrait from the groomer.

No need to wait for an occasion. The right moment is sometimes when the dog is getting older, to capture his best years while he’s still here; or right now, to keep the puppy he still is. Every stage of life has its photo, and every photo gives a different figurine.

After a loss, things go more gently. For a pet memorial figurine, choose a photo where your dog or cat is fully themselves, lively, in their favorite spot, rather than a picture from their last days. The figurine replaces nothing: it keeps your pet close, the way you loved them. Some feel ready after a few weeks, others only after months; there’s no right time, only yours.

If someone you love has lost their pet, tact matters more than the object. You can often get a photo through a relative without reopening the grief, and a few personal lines, like the memory of a walk you shared, say more than a ready-made phrase. And to thank the veterinary team who cared for the animal to the end, a figurine often says more than a card.

A custom pet figurine takes very little: a picture from a moment when your pet is fully themselves, then a preview you adjust until you recognize their ears, their coat and the way they hold themselves. The photo doesn’t need to be perfect.

Nothing is made without your approval, delivery is free everywhere, and it takes 10 to 14 days from order to delivery. For a gift, the gift box comes free with orders of €120 or more, and a second, identical FIGU is €20 off: one for you, one for the person who watched your pet grow up.

Once you have your photo, try it with your pet: the preview costs nothing.