English Bulldog Christmas Lights Shirt: Wrinkly Puppy Chewing the Lights

Caught in the act: this English bulldog Christmas lights shirt shows a wrinkly bulldog puppy sitting with a string of tree lights clamped in its mouth and a look that says it knows it is in trouble. The puppy is a ready-made design, embroidered to order on a short-sleeve T-shirt with real thread, not a print.

What is on the English bulldog Christmas lights shirt?

One small puppy sits in the middle of the chest, front paws together and body turned slightly to the side. Here is what you see up close:

• The face: a cream face and chest with fawn ears and a fawn back, a furrowed, worried brow, round dark eyes and a black nose.
• The collar: a bright red collar around its thick neck.
• The lights: a green cord pulled from its mouth that loops down past its chest to its paws, dotted with red, yellow and blue-green bulbs.

There is no text on the front, so the little scene does all the talking.

Why is the bulldog puppy chewing the lights?

Every puppy goes through a chewing stage, and the tree is full of tempting cords at exactly the wrong time of year. Put that habit on an English bulldog, a breed whose wrinkled forehead already makes it look worried, and you get the perfect guilty face: the evidence is still hanging from its mouth. That is why it works as a funny bulldog Christmas shirt without a single word on it. Anyone who has crawled under the tree to rescue a light string from a puppy will get the joke at a glance, and bulldog owners will recognize the expression as their own dog’s “who, me?” look.

Which color should you choose?

The cream coat needs a backdrop with some depth, so dark colors and mid-tones show the puppy most clearly. On the lightest colors the face turns paler and the fawn ears, red collar and bulbs carry the design. On tones near the cream coat the puppy sits close to the fabric, warm reds soften the collar, and greens near the cord make the light string quieter. Pick a color in the options above and the photos update to that shade.

Who is this bulldog puppy Christmas shirt for?

It is a natural fit for a family with a new bulldog puppy, a bulldog mom or dad, or anyone whose dog has already eaten through one string of lights. As a bulldog puppy Christmas shirt with no dates, it works from tree trimming through New Year’s, and the short sleeves suit a warm-climate holiday or a busy kitchen. If you would rather have fleece, the same bulldog puppy comes on our bulldog Christmas lights sweatshirt, a crewneck for cooler days.

Can you add a name to the sleeve?

You can add one. A short name or a set of initials fits on either short sleeve, and an icon is yours to add or leave out; choose the font and the thread color from the charts in the photos. White thread comes preselected for dark shirts, while light shirts look sharper with Black or another dark thread.

Ordering, sizing and care

We embroider every shirt to order and ship it from the USA; the estimated delivery date is listed on this page. First, you get a free design proof by email and can request unlimited edits. To receive it by Christmas Day, order by December 8 in the U.S. or by November 23 outside the U.S. Size exchanges are not available on made-to-order pieces, so read the size guide on this page before ordering. Wash it inside out in cold water and keep the iron off the embroidery.

Frequently asked questions

Can the bulldog look like my own dog?

The fawn and cream puppy is a set design and does not change. To have your own dog’s face embroidered from a photo, look at the custom dog Christmas sweatshirt; it gives your dog a Santa hat, antlers or another holiday look, and there is a T-shirt option.

Are there other dogs caught with the lights?

Yes. On our Australian Shepherd Santa hat shirt, a blue merle Aussie trots off with the lights instead. More breeds are in our dog lover gifts, and more short-sleeve designs are in our embroidered T-shirts.

Is the bulldog printed on the shirt?

No. Every wrinkle on that worried forehead is stitched in thread, so the design has depth you can feel and will not flake off over time.