Inventory: Pet products from beds to bowls designed in B.C.

MATERIAL BENEFITS 

Teckelklub (German for “dachshund club”) products have been designed and sewn in Vancouver since 1998. Unable to find waterproof jackets for his own dachshunds, company president Andrew Kurkowski started with dog coats. There are now 16 models, plus half a dozen beds and blankets, including the Soho Burrow Bed, but Kurkowski remains committed to manufacturing locally and not using PVC fabrics or environmentally unfriendly processes. Online and at select pet stores, beds $32-$110

PURRFECTLY DESIGNED 

Travelling in South America, cat lovers Jackson Cunningham and Vanessa Koo were appalled at how homeless felines were mistreated there. Then they adopted a rescue cat in Vancouver and discovered the ugliness of most cat furniture. The result: Tuft + Paw, launched in January 2017 near Railtown to provide attractive, environmentally conscious designs while helping homeless cats by donating items and funds to animal support organizations. The company started out reselling imported items but is now developing its own, with six in the works. The litterbox enclosure, which includes an integrated hidden shovel and hinged front for easy cleaning, is available this summer. A new litter box made of recycled plastic includes an integrated scoop, dustpan and handbrush. Online, about $400

TAKE A STAND

Based in Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast, user experience/user interface designer Tina Ng and carpenter/signmaker Jeremie Laguette launched Howl & Home in late 2016. They create minimalist, functional pet furnishings, including boxes for storing poop bags, and plan to introduce dog beds, but their primary products are eating stands handcrafted from sustainable pine with bowls from a Halfmoon Bay ceramist. Online, $140-$240

LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE 

Environmental planner Teresa Waddell launched ecoDaisy in 2012 to combine her passion for dogs with sustainability. Frustrated by how quickly her coonhound Daisy‘s beds deteriorated, she set out to produce one from entirely upcycled materials. Her orthopedic beds are handmade in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, using brand-new pillow-top foam from major mattress manufacturers with a waterproof liner. The durable cover fabrics include luggage material and fleece from recycled pop bottles. Three sizes, online and at select pet stores, $90-$168

HIGHER POWER

In 1986, when Larraine Lamb‘s vet suggested that raising her cat’s food dish might relieve its vomiting, she improvised with a dessert bowl on top of a plant pot. Two years later, she began producing raised stoneware dishes for friends and family in her White Rock garage.

By 1992, Classy Cat and Dog Raised Dishes sales launched online. Now living in Ladysmith, Lamb has outsourced to a Taiwanese company that manufactures dinnerware for humans. The porcelain pedestal bowls come in four sizes and are certified free of cadmium and lead. Online, US$25-$37; U.S.-made stoneware options are pricier

DOG TAG

Cloverdale resident Shalla Black has sewn since she was a kid, so when she couldn’t find collars and leashes to fit her dogs’ personalities, making her own was a natural solution. Given her experience in fashion retailing and as a veterinary assistant, the next logical step was going into business. Since 2012, Danes & Divas has been crafting dog harnesses, collars, leads and accessories from a broad range of fabrics and German-made hardware. Buckles can be engraved to ID the wearer without a jangly tag. Online, $9-$50, engraving extra