Wholesale prices

I receive what I think is more than my fair share of enquiries asking if I wholesale my products. The answer is, "yes, but..."

I import almost all my products myself. As there is no 'middle man' between the manufacturer and me I'm able to retail my products to the public at prices which are substantially lower than the 'normal' retail prices offered by other retailers.

I would expect anyone reselling my products to successfully sell them at far higher prices than those available on our website. (Our website price + 50% is very achievable.)

So yes, I do wholesale and of course I can offer a discount for volume sales. But please don't expect prices enormously reduced from the prices you see on the website.

Give me a buzz and we can talk about it!

"The poor thing will be bald!"

During the summer months I'm on the show circuit (county shows, game fairs, canal shows, dog shows, that sort of thing). To most effectively demonstrate our Hair-raiser dog comb I take Phoebe, our labrador, with me.

So, between March and October, Phoebe spends her weekends being endlessly groomed. (She loves it!)

Often, when I turn to Phoebe for the next demo the customer-to-be, knowing that this will be her nth grooming of the day will exclaim: "The poor thing will be bald!"

To which, with the patience of a saint, I'll respond that the comb doesn't remove any live hair at all - it just collects dead hair from the coat. Two strokes of the Hair-raiser (even after over six months of intensive weekend grooming) and that's - usually! - another one sold!

Choosing the correct size of dog coat

To point out the blazingly obvious: dogs come in all shapes and sizes. It can be problematic when you're buying a coat without being able to try it on.

Nevertheless, I estimate that for 90% of the coats we sell on the internet there is no further discussion; the size proves to be right; the dog's happy, the owner's happy; we're happy. There is happiness and contentment throughout the land.

Not so for the remaining 10%.

It usually transpires that the problem is one of two types. Either:

the customer didn't measure the dog,

or

the dog's measurements were between two sizes - and the customer chose the wrong size.

We do encourage customers to view the photos on the website (follow the 'dogged up' links) to get an idea of how the coats look in use, but this can't replace measuring your dog. I now feel the urge to cut-and-paste the following phrase a few dozen times. I'll actually type it once and cut-and-paste it once (hopefully the bold italics will communicate the phrase's importance): Measure your dog. Measure your dog.

Getting the size wrong means we'll have to exchange the coat; we're happy to do so. But:

Getting the size right first time will save us both a lot of time and inconvenience.

If you measure your dog and it seems to straddle two sizes then please let us help you decide what to do. Just email us the breed and measurements, tell us where you think the choice needs to be made and we'll guide you in the right direction. (You're welcome to phone to discuss but experience has taught me that the exchange - at least to begin - is easier by email; writing things down forces everyone to be very clear on what they're saying - no fudging like there can be in a conversation!)

And we can offer some very creative approaches to resolving the choice...

Sizing for life jackets

The first thing you need to remember - a life jacket isn't a coat! Don't worry too much about it not being long enough.

Your primary concern should be that there is sufficient buoyancy material in the jacket to float your dog (or cat).

Don't expect the jacket to extend the full length of your dog's back; in fact, it will be a more effective buoyancy aid if it stops some way short of the far end of you dog. In this way, if your dog gets into difficulties the jacket's buoyancy will lift the front end of your dog. The absence of buoyancy at the 'far' end will allow that end to sink, pivoting the body; this will assist the rise of the front end and further ensure that mouth and nose are clear of the water level.

If the jacket does extend to the full length of your dog - and this is not unusual, particularly with the smaller dogs where everything is a bit more compressed - then try to avoid the jacket extend beyond the end of your dog; if it does then s/he'll have a problem in simply sitting down!