Military General Pet Portraits

Reporting for duty

Every household has someone who patrols the garden fence and inspects each visitor. This style gives them the rank they deserve. Your pet is painted as a decorated historical officer: a braided tunic with gold epaulettes, rows of medals, a sash across the chest and, if you like, a plumed bicorne hat. The painting borrows from grand eighteenth and nineteenth-century military portraiture, with stormy skies and a heroic, slightly low viewpoint.

Uniforms on offer

Choose a scarlet coat with gold braid, a navy admiral's uniform, a Napoleonic-style dark blue with a bicorne, a cavalry hussar jacket with frogging, or a simple khaki field officer look. The uniforms are invented rather than copies of any real regiment.

Good for

Retirement and promotion presents, Father's Day, and households with a guard dog who takes the job seriously. It also amuses anyone who served, as a gentle tribute rather than a parody.

Animals and pictures

Bulldogs, boxers, German shepherds and terriers look born to it, but ferrets, cockerels and bearded dragons make wonderfully stern officers too. Use a photo with your pet facing forward and alert; ears up and a direct look give the strongest result. Our photography advice explains how to catch that expression.

Lettering and print

A rank and name, such as "General Biscuit", set in an engraved font beneath the portrait suits it perfectly. A framed print or canvas both carry the scale of the scene. If you prefer period dress without the medals, look at the historic costume portrait.

Uniform, medals and brushwork are produced by AI to our military brief. Promote your pet today.