A Christmas T-shirt designed to get in the spirit of the silly season has sparked a very silly response indeed, as the intended dog-shaped image missed the mark completely, leaving shoppers seeing one thing, and one thing only.

The T-shirt requires a double glance, or seven, as the semi-abstract design has left some people’s imagination run wildly in another direction.

The image is supposed to show the profile a dog (allegedly), with the owner’s hand hovering above, presumably meaning to pet the pup.

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However, many jumped to a rather more pornographic conclusion, mistaking the dog for a penis.

A shirt showing a dog being pet has sparked a very different comparison among Christmas shoppers. Photo: Facebook

The T-shirt is being sold for just $30 (£16) online, and from the comments, it seems people are divided over whether this is a must-have, or a must-hate this holiday season.

Say what you will, it’s certainly got people talking.

The Facebook post has racked up almost 8k likes and almost 10k comments, and it’s not hard to see why.

‘That’s not a dog’

“This looks like a penis not a dog (what) so ever and you’re selling it in kids sizing,” one woman pointed out, somewhat obviously. “Pretty disturbing.”

“Someone in the design department is getting fired,” someone else predicted.

“Nobody in their right mind is going to wear that except as a crude joke,” was another person’s forecast.

Many didn’t see the dog at all, and had to be guided to the light quite slowly.

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“I thought I was the only one that saw that it initially looked nowhere near a puppy,” one person admitted.

One person even wondered if they might be able to wear it to church.

It’s not the first anatomy-related Christmas fail to rock the fashion industry.

Just last week, a jumper with an unfortunately booby-pattern went viral for all the wrong reasons.