BarkBox Just Paid for My Dog Tattoo and Wants To Pay For Yours Too

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to own a dog, you know that you can easily fall completely and utterly in love with them. Cats are lovely and the bond with a feline is just as beautiful and deep, but there’s just something about a dog’s undying devotion to their owners that makes them unique. We’re lucky if our cats are as devoted to us as we are to them (and it’s magical when they are), but dogs have such unconditional love for their owners. And because of this, it only makes sense why some people want to tattoo their dogs on them forever.

If that sounds like you, then BarkBox has a fun giveaway that might be right up your alley. (It definitely was for me and my first pet tattoo!)

Related: Brooklyn Artist's Realistic Dog Tattoos Are Nothing Short of Amazing

BarkBox gifted me a tattoo of my dog and I’m obsessed with it

I’ve never been a “dog” person. I grew up with a couple of cats and, because I lived in a city apartment my whole life, my parents were not really interested in adopting a puppy for our already too-packed household. But after adopting my own dog as an adult—you know, as soon as I was able to live on my own and make my own rules, duh—I was no longer just a “cat lady.” I still wouldn’t really consider myself a dog person, but I am a Buffy person. Buffy as in the 1997-2003 classic TV series, but also Buffy as in my lovely dog.

Maybe it’s because I wasn’t allowed to have a dog as a kid, but my determination to adopt one grew as I hunted for my first apartment after graduating college. I found a place with a generous dog policy and after some obstacles (including the start of the COVID-19 pandemic), I finally adopted my rescue puppy, Buffy, in December 2020.

Buffy has a gorgeous coat and a sweet demeanor (whenever she’s not anxious from loud noises and being outside for too long, that is). But what really drew me in were her eyes. And to this day, that’s the one thing that’ll always get me with her; no matter what she does, those puppy dog eyes never fail to make me melt. And they’re part of why I always knew she’d make the perfect pet tattoo.

So, when BarkBox asked me if I wanted a free tattoo of my dog in honor of National Dog Day earlier this month, how could I say no? Chicago-based tattoo artist, Katie Rose Tattoos, was lovely enough to take on the project despite the quick turnaround. And she did a fantastic job of really capturing Buffy’s deer-like demeanor, the pink in her ears and the sweetness of her eyes.

Related: Most Popular Tattoo Style for People Over 50, According to a Celebrity Tattoo Artist

100 lucky winners could win free tattoos of their dogs from BarkBox

Luckily for readers, BarkBox is planning on gifting more free dog tattoos too. In honor of National Dog Day, which was on Aug. 26, BarkBox is hosting a giveaway for 100 lucky winners to get free tattoos of their favorite pups. BarkBox’s free tattoo giveaway is open now and running through Sept. 8, with winners notified by Sept. 31. If you win, BarkBox will send you $150 on a virtual visa gift card to spend on a tattoo, along with a BarkBox gift bundle for your dog worth $50. With a gift card, you can choose whichever artist you love (which is why I chose Katie), and get the dog tattoo of your dreams.

Related: The #1 Mistake Most People Make When Getting Their First Tattoo, According to a Celebrity Tattoo Artist

This year, influencer and owner of Noodle, Jon Graziano, also got a paw tattooed on him through BarkBox, in honor of his beloved dog. If you missed it, Noodle the pug became a viral sensation after Graziano started doing bones or no-bones days on TikTok, where his dog would either sit up or fall over in the morning. This foreshadowed how your day would go: good (a bones day) or not-so-good (a no-bones day). Noodles unfortunately passed away in late 2022.

BarkBox's winners last year got tattoos that ranged from hyper-realistic to watercolor masterpieces.

Want your dog’s face? You can get that. Want your dog as a cartoon? You can do that too. Hyperrealistic? Done. Just want a paw, like Graziano? Also doable. If you’ve ever thought about wanting to tattoo your dog on you for all time, this contest is hard to pass up.

Next up, if cats are more your thing, here are some cute cat tattoo ideas to try.