Mother's Day and Father's Day pet portraits: history, dates and ideas

Mother's Day and Father's Day are days for thanking the people who raised us, and in many families the dog or cat is part of the household they built. This page covers a royal portrait of that pet as a gift for either day. It tells how each day began, sets out when they fall, and explains how children, siblings and grandchildren can give one portrait together. It also covers the flowers of Mother's Day that are dangerous for cats. For the steps every portrait gift shares, start with the guide to pet portrait gifts.

How Mother's Day began

Mother's Day in its modern form began in West Virginia. The U.S. National Park Service says Anna Maria Jarvis, born in 1864, took her inspiration from her mother, Ann. During and after the American Civil War, Ann Jarvis organized Mothers' Day Work Clubs that cared for sick and injured soldiers from both sides, and later a "Mother's Friendship Day" to bring former enemies together.

After Ann died in 1905, Anna campaigned for a national day. The Library of Congress says that in 1908 she invited friends to honour her mother at a ceremony in Grafton, West Virginia. The National Park Service says the first formal Mother's Day church service was held there on May 10, 1908. Anna did not attend. She was at a Mother's Day event in Philadelphia, but she sent 500 white carnations for the people at the service.

The idea spread fast. The Library of Congress timeline records that West Virginia passed a law naming the holiday in 1910, and that on May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law stating that the second Sunday in May is to be celebrated as Mother's Day. The next day President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation for the first national Mother's Day, as a day for citizens to show the flag in honour of mothers whose sons had died in war. The National Park Service quotes Wilson's description of the day as a "public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country".

The founder who turned against it

Anna Jarvis soon hated what the day became. The National Park Service says she railed against florists who raised carnation prices before Mother's Day, and detested the greeting card industry, arguing that standardized cards went against the spirit of the day. She died in 1948.

Her objection is a useful guide for a gift today. Jarvis wanted a day of personal thanks. A portrait of the family's own pet, given with a card written by hand, is closer to that than any printed message.

How Father's Day began

Father's Day began in Spokane, Washington, with one daughter's idea. HistoryLink, the free encyclopedia of Washington State history, says Sonora Smart Dodd thought of it in 1909 while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. Her mother had died in 1898, when Sonora was 16, and her father, William Jackson Smart, raised all six children alone. She called him a "golden rule type of father".

Dodd wrote a petition and won the support of the local YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance. She asked for June 5, her father's birthday, but the ministers needed more time to prepare their sermons, so the first Father's Day was held on June 19, 1910. HistoryLink says people wore roses to church in honour of their fathers, children gave their fathers small gifts, and Dodd spent part of the day delivering gifts to fathers who could not leave their homes.

National recognition took decades. HistoryLink says President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation in 1966 naming the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Congress passed a joint resolution in 1970, and President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making the day permanent in 1972. Dodd, then 90, said she was happy it had come to pass in her lifetime.

Mothering Sunday in England

England has an older day for mothers with a different date. The Church of England says Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the weeks of preparation before Easter. In the 16th century it was a day for church more than for mothers: people travelled once a year to their "mother" church, which might be their home church or a cathedral. Later, workers on farms and estates were given the day off to visit their mothers and go to church. Simnel cake, a fruit cake with layers of marzipan, belongs to the day.

If the recipient grew up in England, ask which day their family keeps before you plan the gift.

When the days fall

The gift countdown on the main gift guide page offers Mother's Day in Canada and the United States (the second Sunday of May) and Father's Day in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom (the third Sunday of June). It counts the days to the next one and lists what to prepare. For Mothering Sunday, use its "another date" choice.

Who gives the portrait

Parents receive gifts from several people on these days: children, their partners, grandchildren, sometimes the family friend who walks the dog. A 2021 set of 12 studies from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business looked at occasions like this and named Mother's Day and Father's Day among them. It found that givers worry about how their gift compares with the others and sometimes spend more than they planned. Recipients focus on how much thought went into each gift.

That makes a portrait a good shared gift. Three ways to give it:

• From the grown children together. Siblings share one portrait of the parents' dog or cat, and every name goes on the card. One sibling handles the photo and the order.
• From the grandchildren. Young grandchildren can choose the style from the gallery and write or draw in the card.
• From the pet. A card signed "from" the dog or cat, with a paw print drawn in ink, is a small joke that suits a family with a sense of humour.

For a mother who treats her dog as one of her children, the Purrspectives list of dog mom gifts has more ideas.

Choosing a style for a parent

Purrealism offers 15 portrait styles: nine from Indian royal courts and six from European history. For a parent, think about their home and their taste as much as the pet's character.

For Mother's Day, the Maharani is a natural match; the gallery shows a white and ginger cat as a Maharani in a green and gold gown. The Regency Era and Victorian Noble styles suit a home with older furniture or family photographs on the walls.

For Father's Day, a warrior or a ruler often suits the pet of a proud father. The gallery shows a dog as a Rajput warrior in armour, with a fort at sunset behind. The Military General and Medieval Knight styles are the European choices. A calm old dog that follows its owner from room to room may suit a seated noble more than a warrior.

The Purrspectives guide to choosing a royal portrait style works through coat colour and character.

Flowers, lilies and the family cat

Flowers are a large part of Mother's Day. Statistics Canada marked Mother's Day with figures on flower growing: Canada produced 269.1 million potted plants in 2025, including 5.3 million potted lilies, and 425.0 million cut flowers, an all-time high. It counted 2,916 florists across the country in December 2025.

Lilies are dangerous in a home with a cat. The ASPCA says all species of lily are potentially fatal to cats. If a portrait goes to a parent with a cat, give it with flowers that contain no lilies, or with no flowers at all. The ASPCA also warns that tape, ribbon and cellophane can make pets choke or vomit, so clear the wrapping away as soon as the gift is open.

Giving it on the day

Give the portrait in person if you can, with the pet in the room after the paper is gone. The page on presenting a portrait gift covers wrapping and what to write in the card. If the parent's pet has died in the past year, the pet memorial portraits guide covers memorial gifts with the care they need. And if you are collecting a photo of a parent's pet without them knowing, the page on getting a full-size photo for a surprise portrait explains how.