The Little Dog Laughed | Meet The Team

The Little Dog Laughed | Loved by people who love dogs

The Little Dog Laughed is a family-run greeting card and gift company based in Derby, a short drive from the beautiful hills of Derbyshire. With a decidedly doggy bias, their brand is enjoyed by dog owners, cat worshippers and animal lovers. Founded in 1998 by animal artist Anna Danielle it soon became a family affair when Anna’s brothers, Gavin and Nathan joined the business. Together they have spent over twenty-eight years supplying cards and gifts to the UK retail industry. You can find all things Little Dog Laughed is independent gift shops, farm shops, garden centres and if you are going abroad you may also stumble across their humble offerings in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Team Little Dog comprises of 7 people

In order of appearance:

Anna Danielle | Designer, Artist and Company Founder.
Anna is the female, middle third of the sibling trio who eat, sleep, breathe The Little Dog Laughed. She loves drawing, designing, animals, nature, reading, radio and can ruminate for waaaay too long on the ultimate Top 5 biscuit of choice. Anna started her business after graduating with a textile degree from Winchester School of Art and quickly discovered her unique strengths … finance, sales, organisation and admin skills NOT being any of them! Luckily, being surrounded by honest, decent people who are great in those areas has made The Little Dog Laughed what it is today.

Gavin | Joint Owner and Company Director
Gavin is Anna’s big brother and the driving force behind this humble card and gift company. Funny, creative, visionary and a true people person, Gavin is a problem solver and kind boss (which is why he often gets away with parking across two spaces). Originally trained for a career in building management, he quit the brick race to help Anna and twenty years on he is still bringing laughter, leadership and direction to each working day. He is however a complete liability when it comes to packing orders and therefore is banned from the Dispatch room.
Nathan | Joint Owner and Head of Operations
As the third member of the family, Nathan is Gavin and Anna’s little brother. Order, reason and logic make Nathan brilliant with the day to day running of the business. He is the essential glue in the siblings easy, working relationship and the most likely voice you’ll hear if you phone The Little Dog Laughed. An advocate for the great outdoors, when he’s not running the office, you’ll find him fully kitted up and hiking his way around our local Peak District hoping to catch the sunrise on a beautiful day.
Ann | Head of Dispatch and Undiscovered Genius
Intelligent, hardworking, dependable and conscientious, Ann should be first pick for anyone putting together a crack MI6 intelligence team.
Quietly going about her day, she never misses a thing and her eagle eye mops up a multitude of typo or admin errors, thankfully before many of them go live!
A fabulous baker and Queen of the handmade sausage roll, Ann is an essential part of The Little Dog team and the main reason your orders are packed so beautifully and quickly.

So that’s your full timers, now for our dedicated part time team:

Mandy | Dispatch Assistant
Our Mandy works part time at The Little Dog and assists Ann in Dispatch. She is a salt of the earth, comedy girl. I say girl because despite recently celebrating a significant birthday she still looks 30 years younger than her actual age. Hardworking, caring and chief brew maker, The Mand says it like it is and holds the title for catching Gavin out with an awesome practical joke.
Gavin is very sharp so this was a real coup. If you ever find yourself at The Little Dog, do not hesitant to ask him ALL about it!
Alison | Head of Handmade
Alison is a creative fabric legend who now runs our sewing area. A fellow artist, she was Anna’s neighbour and by a fortuitous sequence of events ended up working two days a week at The Little Dog Laughed. Originally trained in glass design, Alison found her sewing skills allowed her to combine motherhood with a creative career path and we are now the very lucky beneficiaries of that lifetime of knowledge. As is sometimes the way with creative sparks, Alison’s time at The Little Dog has set her off in the direction of canine miniature sculptures and some of you may already be owners of one of her wonderful pipe cleaner miniature collectibles. They are a true doggie delight and can be found in our Handmade Temptations | One of a Kind category on the website.

Essex Becky | Instagram Platform Manager & Blogger
Becky is the top contender for the Little Dog’s super fan title as well as being Anna’s NOBVOF ( Newest Oldest Bestest Virtual Online Friend) She responded to a Facebook cat muse plea for the Magnificent Moggies calendar and her brilliantly funny pet anecdotes instantly caught Anna’s attention. They soon became firm email pals and eventually decided to meet, blind date style! Thankfully, the conversation was as genuine in real life as it was virtually. Fast forward some years and Becky now runs the Little Dog’s Instagram Account. Intelligent, witty, genuine and a true animal lover with the added bonus of being a copy editor. Becky is an untapped wealth of talent, bursting with ideas and the perfect voice and fit for the Little Dog.
And that ladies and gentlemen is your Little Dog Laughed team. If you have any questions about your order or service please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will do our best to help. From everyone at Team Little Dog, we thank you for your support, kind comments, pet photos and helpful suggestions on how we can improve our service.
All of which is greatly appreciated and genuinely adds a smile to our day!

If you have any queries you can contact the office on 01332 290605 or email us at [email protected]

And if for some crazy reason you’d like to read an in-depth chapter by chapter account of how this little business started, grew and survived into the present day then you are very welcome to click here for The Little Dog Story.