Chris Loverseed has been a dog trainer for more than 15 years, and more recently, an art lover—specifically, two large oil paintings of his dogs that hang on the walls of his Melbourne home. The custom portraits are of Koda, his Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Storm, his partner’s Rottweiler; both have since passed.

A Market Backed By High Emotion

“I honestly could not picture my home without those paintings now,” said Loverseed, who runs Positive K9 Training for dogs and also creates high-end dog gear—among his clients, Oprah Winfrey and rapper Jelly Roll. “Even taking photos of them for this made me stop for a second. It made me happy we had them done, and a bit emotional too.”

Loverseed’s emotional investment reflects a massive booming industry. The custom pet products market, of which portraiture is a part, was valued at $7.15 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $12.34 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research. That market includes name-tag collars, photo-printed pillows and blankets, costumes and bespoke pet jewelry.

At the premium end of that spectrum are commissioned and custom pet portrait art.

Pet Portraits Are In Greater Demand

Cy Hundley has been drawing and painting animals professionally for 35 years. He said prices have steadily increased, not only because of inflation, but also greater demand.

“People are happy to pay for an important piece of artwork depicting an animal they love dearly,” said Hundley, who lives in Boulder, Colorado. Hundley links the acceleration directly to the pandemic. “As the world changed with the COVID shutdown, more people got pets and spent more time with them,” Hundley said, adding that many honor a pet with a portrait after it passes.

Hundley’s charcoals of a single pet drawn on cotton rag heavyweight paper start at $430 for a 9-by-12 inch portrait. His 11-by-14 inch acrylic paintings for a single pet are priced at $1,350.

Increasingly, there are more pet owners to buy such works of art. “Pet ownership in the U.S. has jumped significantly over the past three decades,” according to a 2026 Forbes Pet Ownership Statistics report. “As of 2024, 66% of U.S. households (86.9 million homes) own a pet.”

The trend of sentimental pet portraits pairs with owners who increasingly spoil their pets—marked by Gen Z who “are the most likely to spoil their pets with birthday cakes (34%), birthday presents (39%) and clothing or costumes (32%),” according to the Forbes report.

Ben Lenovitz had a thriving business painting whimsical pet portraits as the “in-house pet portrait artist” at Fishs Eddy, a New York City tableware store. “I immediately loved painting their funny and expressive faces,” said Lenovitz in a statement on his website detailing the launch of his pet portrait business.

Ali Smith, a professional dog trainer and behavioral consultant at Maryland-based Rebarkable, believes a lack of human contact is driving pet ownership along with a surge in custom merchandise.

“Humanization of pets has increased, but the root cause, at its core, is a lonelier society,” Smith said. “People prefer to see their pet’s portrait rather than some random reprinted piece of art from a generic chain store.”

The Pet Portrait Wearables Market

For many, a custom pet portrait has become not only a sentimental object but an interior design choice and an identity statement. That’s especially true with pet portraits emblazoned on wearables.

“Over the past two to three years, I’ve seen a noticeable shift in my clients requesting fine art portraits on their handbags and other wearable items,” said Michele Sobel, founder of New Jersey-based Michele Sobel Fine Art.

The wearable art Sobel has created ranges from a baby kitten on a Hermes bag, dogs on various designer items and “playful, graffiti-style interpretations on leather jackets,” she said.

Sobel charges about $200 for a single pet portrait on a client’s existing piece, and up to $1,000 or more for more detailed, full compositions. “Clients most often request hyper-realistic portraits,” Sobel said.

Pet Portraits Have A Built-In Repeat Market

Tony Corbitt Jr., a Sarasota-based artist whose pet portraits range from $300 to $2,500, said his business is steady. “The popularity of pet portraits never dies down, only people's willingness to pay for them,” Corbitt said. He saw the category boom in the mid-2000s, then stall with the 2008 financial crisis. While recent inflation has slowed commissions, the underlying demand is solid, he said.

“Most of my pet portrait clients are repeat clients because if they had a dog that I painted ten years ago, chances are that dog has passed and now they have another one.”

Pet portraiture is personal in a way that digital photos can’t replicate. “What I like about having the portraits on the wall is that they are not tucked away in a phone gallery or hard drive,” Loverseed said. “I see them every day. They’re part of the house. It is not quite the same as having the dogs here, obviously, but it keeps them present in a way that feels good rather than sad.”

As professional dog trainers, both Loverseed and Smith said that portraits are a meaningful way to honor a pet, but memorializing them should be kept in perspective. “Don’t humanize them so much that you stop seeing the dog,” Loverseed said. “They need rest, boundaries, training, outlets and clear communication. Otherwise, you can create behavior problems while thinking you’re being loving.”