Top Fur Baby Gift Ideas From A Pet Pro (Win!)

With Halloween in the rearview, it’s time to put on Mariah Carey tunes and start thinking about holiday shopping—for people and pets alike! Look no further than, dogged, a small family business founded by a Vancouver couple that provides trusted, tested and sustainable dog products for walk, play, eat and care. From dogged basics walk kits to treats made out of crickets , as well as classic favourites like the baguette enrichment toy, dogged has you covered for even the most particular pets. We chatted with one of the founders, Trevor White, to find out more. —Vita Daily

Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.

My name is Trevor, I am the co-founder of dogged, a sustainable dog shop + educational hub, which I operate alongside my wife, Taryn and our dog, Ruby Tuesday. I love to learn and teach others and I recently completed a Canine Nutrition Certificate from the Companion Animal Sciences Institute. My values are community, education, and enthusiasm.

When and why did you launch dogged? What niche were/are you aiming to fill?

dogged didn’t start in the way most businesses do. We didn’t know it, but dogged began the day we lost our sweet French Bulldog, Maila, unexpectedly. Maila was our first pet and first addition to our family. After Maila’s passing, our home suddenly felt empty. Our best friend was no longer snoring in bed beside us or welcoming us home after a long day. Losing our beloved friend and family member left us with armfuls of grief and a new sense of clarity about the gift of connection between human and dog. Loss wouldn’t stop us from carrying on loving. Eventually, we welcomed a new puppy into our home, Ruby Tuesday, a Vizsla. As we lived the highs and lows of having a new puppy, we also observed many of the ways our local pet stores weren’t able to support us. We noticed that the staff working in major pet store chains often weren’t knowledgeable about dog health or nutrition. Sustainability didn’t seem to be a pillar of value in many of these stores and finding sustainable pet products was difficult. The huge number of options provided, along with a lack of helpful information, put the onus on the pet owner to be well-researched. Keeping all of this in mind, we decided to launch dogged! We would be a dog store focused on education and sustainability. In spring of this year, I walked away from my six-figure corporate job and dogged officially launched in July 2023. Since then, we’ve been serving dogs and their humans across North America through our online shop.

What products/services do you currently offer, and what makes them unique?

Currently, we offer lots of different products in the walk, play, treat, and eat categories. Each one of these products must fit in to one or more of our sustainability criteria: repurposed, recycled, recyclable, returnable, and/or high quality and long lasting. We are mindful of the supply chain our products come through, and we do our best to take product back if its no longer useful to our customers. For example, we take back all dogged basics harnesses and collars that dogs outgrow, and will give our customer a discount on the next size up. We only sell products that we would happily use with our own dog. The curated shopping experience at dogged is intended to remove the guess work for our customers. We do the research before we stock a product so that we’re ready to answer our customers questions and support them in finding the best solutions for their pet.

If you haven’t said so already, how does sustainability fit into your business model, and why is (more) sustainability in the pet-goods industry important?

While it can be hard to find good information in this area, we work hard to understand the materials used in our products, as well as the journey product makes to get to us, so that we can develop an understanding of the larger impact our products are having. Besides following the sustainability criteria I noted earlier, we ensure our packaging is bare bones can be recycled easily. We do not use custom tape, stickers, or tissue paper as all of these items can be difficult to recycle. We are sharing this information with our community and the reasons behind why we choose the packaging they do so that our customers can begin to expect or ask for similar practices to be used by the other brands they love. Getting more sustainability in the pet-goods industry is important. The pet industry is a 76.8 billion dollar industry and is expected to grow by 5% by 2028. We know that making this a focus over the next 10 years will have a significant impact on our planet.

What are some of the worst offenders when it comes to non-sustainable pet products? (Tell us about tennis balls, specifically, too.)

There are some brands out there that are making a conscious effort to invest in either high quality, durable materials and/or sustainable materials but the worst offenders are likely folks who are producing low quality plush and silicone toys. Some of these toys may last less than a week (we know this from experience!) and then sadly make their way into the garbage. The tennis ball industry is a bit funny. When you play tennis, your tennis ball slowly loses air, but you cannot refill it. So eventually after several hours of use, a tennis ball becomes useless for game play. This results in an estimated 125 million tennis balls ending up in the landfill each year. dogged works with local tennis clubs in Vancouver to collect tennis balls that are no longer match usable due to deflation. We clean up these balls, resell them on our website at an affordable price, and donate the profits to Community Vet Outreach. Community Vet Outreach is a not-for-profit charity. Its mandate is to improve the health of homeless and vulnerably housed communities through veterinary care to their pets, and to connect their humans with health and social services. As we know that dogs enrich our lives, its important that all animals are kept happy and healthy regardless of housing status.

The answer for humans should be obvious, but why do pets like sustainable products better (what are the benefits for pets)?

Our pets benefit from our mindful shopping of sustainable products. The major benefit is longevity, since a sustainable product is more likely to last the test of time. That means our dogs get more playtime and more moments of connection with their humans. But most importantly, we share this planet with our pets and when we make more sustainable choices that benefit our environment, we all win.

Your top holiday gift ideas for pets?

• The Pupsicle – The Pupsicle is our best-selling product and it was made for a dogs that love a challenge. We were the first business to sell this product in Canada. Designed by an engineer from Stanford, this product was designed to last a very long time. Other similar enrichment toys require you to buy several individual toys, fill them and freeze them if you want to prep your dog’s enrichment ahead of time. the Pupsicle’s brilliant design comes with a silicone tray which allows you to freeze four refills at a time and requires you to buy only one toy.
• Dandylion Clean Paws No-Rinse Foaming Cleanser – This Canadian product is perfect for the winter season. Instead of using single use wipes for your dog’s paws, this foaming cleanser has a silicone brush attached that allows you to clean your dogs feet and just wipe with a towel. This results in clean paws and no unnecessary waste.
• dogged basics harness – Our in-house line is made from high quality nylon and neoprene. This product is part of our “size up your pup” program where we will take the product back and give you a discount off the next size up if your pet outgrows their first harness.
• Springer Water Bottle – Never waste water again. This bottle with attached bowl combo allows for your dog to drink the water they need, while excess water is absorbed right back in the bottle (rather than filling a bowl and subsequently dumping out the water your dog doesn’t drink). This ensures that no water is wasted on your next adventure.

shopdogged.com

Win! A $122 dogged basics walk kit!

Congrats Cindy L. of Vaughan, ON, who will receive a dogged basics walk kit (total value $122) which includes:

• dogged basics collar ($24)

• dogged basics harness ($46)

• dogged basics leash ($43)

• dogged basics poop bag holder ($9)

Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadailymedia. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding.