So, we hear you ask, what makes a D-fa dog jacket or piece
of equipment different to other brands?
Here’s what:
Unconditional, In All Conditions™
Your dog’s love for you
is unconditional – they will follow you wherever you go,
whatever the conditions. In doing so they push the limits of
what nature intended and test the merits of fur well beyond
its limits. Whatever the conditions, a walk on a dark, wet
night; an expedition to the back-country or a journey down a
river dogs deserve to be safe and comfortable. We believe
that the stuff you buy your dog should be as good as the
gear you buy yourself.
Things you’ll dig about our
D-fa-Designs
There Are No Straight Lines On A Dog
There are no straight lines on a dog, so there are no
straight lines on our dog jackets. Every panel on our dog
jackets is curved and tapered to achieve a good fit across a
wide range of body shapes – deep chests, broad shoulders,
narrow waists and combinations of these. Even our buckles
are placed on angles to make sure that they follow the line
of the dog rather than interrupt it. We do more than stitch
our jackets to look curved; we cut every panel to shape the
jacket and fit your dog. Curves are less economical to
make, but more ergonomic to wear. We figure you spend more
time wearing a jacket than we do making it, so we feel the
curves are well worth the extra effort from us.
Better Fabrics, Better Performance
The better the fabric, the better the performance of the
gear. Dogs don’t naturally wear ‘clothes’ so we figure that
if you’re going to dress them you need to do it with gear
that is light and doesn’t encumber their movement. Every
fabric we choose is selected on the basis of what it does
(insulate, protect, highlight) and how it does it e.g. is it
light, durable, washable, will fur stick to it, does it
adjust to different temperatures? We combine the right
fabrics for the job with careful design to create dog
jackets and equipment that performs like the best of your
gear.
What Would DOG Do?
We spend a lot of time watching dogs doing stuff. Playing,
working, curling up to sleep, turning in excited circles on
their leads, and evading their owners as they try to attach
them to leads using fiddly bull-clips. All of this inspires
and directs us as we design our dog gear. These
observations lead us to things like the ‘Bone Zone’ in the
Puff-Doggy which evens out insulation across different zones
of the body when curled rest; and the swivelling carabiner
in our leads that turns with your dog instead of winding up
your lead and is much easier to attach to a collar than a
traditional bull clip. It led us to the chest panel with cut
away shoulders to allow free movement at play while holding
the jacket firmly in place and protecting the chest and
belly. In every design we ask ourselves, what would DOG
do?
A Velcro and Zipper Free Zone
Our observations of dogs led us away from zippers and Velcro
and into the world of cam lock buckles and better-by-design
fittings. Velcro is a wonderful invention, but not if you
are covered in hair which you shed at the slightest
provocation. Zips work, but not when you’re furry and too
excited to stand still while someone does it up for you.
We Test It – A Lot – On Real Dogs, In Real Conditions
It sounds stupid, but we test our gear in real conditions
before we launch it. We look for how it washes, wears,
performs and fits. We test it on dogs doing real doggy
stuff, we try to find its limits, wash it (lots) and then
wear it some more. Check out our Dogs of D-fa to meet some
of our tester dogs.
It’s Only Fur
We all know our dog is the best dog in the
world. Under the fur beats the heart of a hero and the
bravery of a warrior. Big, small, pure or eclectically bred
our dogs are super-human. However, our dogs are not
super-heroes. Their fur does not make them impervious to
cold, illuminate them in low light, able to swim in
rough water, or survive in any conditions. It’s only fur. If it was that
good we’d all wear it, all the time, for everything. But
it’s not. It’s only fur.
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