Discover Yorkshire's New Luxury Dog Apparel Business

Tell us about the inspiration behind Dog Barn Yorkshire.

As our dogs were getting older, we found it quite hard to find nice dog apparel, whether that was jackets, fleeces or otherwise. What was out there wasn’t really to our taste. There weren’t that many businesses that did other things than collars and harnesses, and we also found that the companies that were doing those things used a lot of loud patterns and themed prints. We just wanted a nice neutral, elegant and classic countryside type of brand that would suit us.

How did you approach developing the range?

A lot of it was related to having our own dogs. We always knew we wanted to do normal harnesses and collars because all dogs need those, and one of our main products that we wanted to start off with was the fleece suit. We felt that the material could be better, it could be softer, stretchier and the branding could be better. So that’s the main thing we started with, and they sold out within two weeks! Now we’ve brought out the summer T-shirts.

For first time owners, what are the benefits of your products?

If you go through our winter products like the fleece suit, the main benefit is it keeps dogs warm in the really cold months. They are also waterproof so it keeps them dry. We’ve even had our dogs jump into a pond and come out dry underneath the fleece. For the cold, wet months it’s brilliant. It also keeps them clean as well as it pretty much covers the dog other than the paws and the head – all you have to do is wipe their paws when they come back from a walk.

How about your summer range?

The summer T-shirt is basically the equivalent of the fleece suit but made from a cooling cotton, so it’s really lightweight. On days when it’s really warm you can wet the T-shirt and put it on the dog and it stays wet for up to two hours. It holds the moisture and cools the dog down. And if they run in the fields, they can be prone to ticks so it helps stop ticks getting onto the dog. 

Tell us about your upcoming pieces.

We’ve been working on quite a lot of things recently. One coming very soon is the rain jacket. It’s 100 percent waterproof and really lightweight so perfect for this time of year because it’s not thick. On those days where it’s warm but raining it’s great for protecting your dog. I’ve not seen anyone do this type of jacket in terms of the look. You’ve got velcro straps that go underneath and up the sides to help with fit, and you’ve got a toggle on the neck and bum for better fit too. You’ve also got a zip on the back to attach your lead to a harness or collar that’s under the jacket. 

We’ve also got the sherpa jacket coming up. The sherpa is two-legged instead of four, and on the back it’s got a full zip. Some dogs don’t like to have things put over their head, so you just put the legs in then pull it around and zip up the back. The two D-rings on the back mean you can attach the lead directly to the jacket so it acts as a harness and is really easy to stick on in winter.

Can we expect to see the range in shops soon?

We’re starting to go into shops now. We’ve just had an order from [a shop] in Grasmere in the Lake District, as well as Ripon, Holmfirth and Huddersfield which will all be stocking our products in the next few months. We’ve always had in our heads that we’d love to one day start selling to stores, but we’re still quite new. These shops came to us asking if they can stock the products so luckily it’s happened out of nowhere.

– Perfect Pooch Picks –

To explore the full range, visit dogbarnyorkshire.com.