About Scoff Paper: Edible Greeting Cards for Dogs

Meet Gem, Matthew and the dog behind the idea.

Hi, I’m Gem, founder of Scoff Paper and a Guide Dogs puppy raiser. I spend a lot of time with dogs. Enough time to know that a birthday card left within reach is a fairly optimistic decorating choice.

A dog birthday started it all

The idea came from Loki, one of our guide dogs in training, who decided his paper birthday card belonged in his mouth. That got us thinking: what if a dog could have a greeting card they were actually allowed to eat?

With my partner Matthew, I turned that question into Scoff Paper. Our edible greeting cards are made from potato paper, with dog-friendly flavours and messages that celebrate life with dogs.

Cards for the whole furry family

There are funny birthday cards, heartfelt Gotcha Day greetings, Christmas designs and personalised cards with your dog’s name. The human chooses the words; the dog gets the scoff. It is a fairly good arrangement.

We make our cards in the UK, and Scoff Paper has travelled from a small idea to dog-loving households and retailers around the world. We also took our edible dog cards into BBC’s Dragons’ Den, where Sara Davies joined our story.

Made for moments worth scoffing

We love the big celebrations and the little everyday moments: a new dog joining the family, a birthday, a thank-you or just a reminder that they’re your favourite little weirdo.

Find your dog’s next card or catch up with Gem and the dogs.

But how did Scoff Paper even become a thing?!

This was all concocted in the crazy brain of founder and self-professed doggy disciple, Gemma Connolly who set out forming a team of creators to help her invent a product that is not harmful to dogs in any way and can bring a great amount of joy to dog owners and the precious pooches themselves. 

Gemma, from Lancashire, was inspired to create Scoff Paper by her own overwhelming love for dogs and the joy they bring to her life. For close to ten years, Gemma has operated as a voluntary ambassador for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. She herself has raised, trained and cared for seventeen dogs, preparing them for life as a guide dog. 

Her professional career has seen her head up large projects in the advertising and marketing world over the past 20 years, however, in 2015, with the great stresses of a hugely demanding job, Gemma suffered a large heart-attack – a point which made her reassess her life. 

Fortunately, with the addition of a pacemaker, Gemma nursed herself back to health by enrolling in the Guide Dogs puppy-walking scheme – giving her love and a purpose away from the corporate world, which she was more happy to pursue.  

Reflecting on this difficult time, Gemma recalls, “The strains of a high pressured job took their toll on my life and at just 30 years old, I was having a heart attack. I knew something had to give.” 

“I took a step back from work, but what really helped me was my first guide dog, a Labrador-retriever named Ian” 

“The sheer love and warmth I found in Ian truly changed my life for the better. And to this day, I can honestly say that my dog saved my life. While I was caring for him, he really was caring for me too.”

Now, happy to call herself a full time dog spoiler, Gemma admits to always being on the look out for wonderful treats to give to her four-legged-friends – and for this Scoff Paper has been solely devised to be safe, fun and entertaining to both dogs and their mums and dads.  

“I think in these times, where people may not be able to go and visit their friends and family to spread joy for Christmas or Birthdays, I think Scoff Paper cards can bring a bit of fun into doggy’s and owners lives; and we need all the joy we can get right now.”