Every License Has Its Day in Pet Products

Licensing has been a big business within the pet products and services industry for at least a decade, and has had a presence for many years before that. While new deals do not come up as frequently today as they did five or so years ago, IP owners and pet products marketers continue to partner and often bring new innovation to the category. A selection of agreements announced within the last year illustrate the variety of properties, deal types, and creative approaches that characterize licensing and collaborations in this sector: 

• Home décor brand Ruggable last month expanded its collaboration with interior designer Jonathan Adler—its most popular of many third-party partnerships—adding 20 washable memory-foam pet beds and oversized pillows in bright colors and patterns. The original deal with Adler covered the washable rugs for which Ruggable is best known, with those products still available for purchase along with the new items. 

• Mars, whose various brands cover pet nutrition and medical care, teamed with Calm in May 2025 for the latter’s first pet-related mental health content. Featuring guided meditations, breathing exercises, and sleep stories, the app content encourages pet owners to see their relationship with their pets as a way to improve their own health and wellness. In addition, a well-being quiz called “My Pet Guru” appears on Mars’ Kinship pet-advice platform, where the Calm content is promoted.

• In April 2025, MCM, a luxury travel and lifestyle brand, and Pet Therapy, a luxury Italian design brand, came together for a collection of oversized mattress-like poufs suitable for both pets and their people. The whimsical, cartoon-like animal-shaped beds debuted in five sizes and a variety of colors and designs, and integrated durable coated leather, canvas, and nylon in the MCM-monogrammed Visetos pattern. The Pet Therapy brand is designed by Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldassari of Atelier Biagetti with their young daughter, Altea Biagetti. 

• Milk-Bone and Peeps collaboratively developed Easter-themed, marshmallow-flavored dog treats, a new special-edition seasonal product that debuted in February 2025. A 22-ounce pail featured artificially flavored treats in dog bone, Peeps chick, and Peeps bunny shapes and was available at key retailers including Walmart, Target, Chewy, and Amazon. 

• Ethical pet apparel brand Barc London partnered with luxury hotel brand The Hoxton in December 2024 for a collection of matching holiday cotton knitwear for guests and their pets. The assortment expanded on the hotel’s dog-friendly policy, called Hox Hounds. The collection included a wide range of human and dog sizes and reflected the color palette of The Hoxton’s locations around the world. The products were sold at the hotels, on the chain’s online Hox Shop, and on Barc London’s website, with proceeds going to support local dog shelters.

• Lifestyle brand Zee.Dog acquired the rights from Marvel in November 2024 to make a collection of limited-edition pet products based on Spider-Man, Black Panther, Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, and other Marvel properties. Merchandise included leashes, collars, and harnesses; toys; two sizes of memory-foam orthopedic Zee.Beds for dogs; and melamine bowls. The retro artwork used on the products was from the earlier years of the superheroes’ history. 

• Pet food brand Freshpet created its first pet apparel collection with singer Meghan Trainor, in October 2024, consisting of long-sleeved Dog Mom and Dog Dad sweatshirts, as well as a bandana and stainless-steel dog bowl. The items were available only on the Freshpet website, with all proceeds going to four of the animal rescue organizations Freshpet supports, and the sweatshirts were sold both independently and bundled with other pet products. The idea came after Trainor’s fans started to ask where they could get the Dog Mom sweatshirt she wore in her video for the song “I’m a Dog Mom.” The merchandise was part of a broader promotional partnership between Trainor and Freshpet, which began earlier in the year. 

• Target introduced a limited-edition collection of more than 180 items for pets and pet lovers, called The Cuddle Collab, in September 2024. The array was put together in collaboration with a group of animal influencers: therapy dogs Ellie and Emma; foodie dog Popeye; self-care aficionado Maple Cat; the cats Zelda, Titus, and Brave; dog and cat best friends Baloo and Pan; and fashion-forward dogs Ghost and Wren. Products included matching accessories for humans and their cats and dogs, apparel, plush toys, home décor, pet beds and condos, treats, and Stanley bowls and tumblers, among others. The “fur-fluencers,” as Target called them, together had more than six million followers on Instagram alone at the time, according to the retailer.

The pet products and services industry as a whole continues to grow (albeit at a slower pace than recent years). In 2025, consumers’ expenditures on their pets in the U.S. are projected to reach $157 billion, which would represent an increase of 3.35% from $151.9 billion in 2024, according to the American Pet Products Association. Since 2018, the U.S. market has seen increases in consumer expenditures every year, with a big bump during the pandemic; at the beginning of that period, spending was valued at $90.5 billion. Over the entire seven years, the average compound annual growth rate was 8.19%. 

While a large number of licensed products are already present, the ongoing growth in spending—not to mention consumers’ undying love for their pets, which ensures a reliable and loyal customer base for the category—encourages licensors to continue taking a look at opportunities in this space, especially if they and their partners can bring something new.