Hi readers, 

For my first post, I thought I would go into why I started Wag & Go. Of course with every story, there's an inspiration and that came with the arrival of our "Covid puppy", Bruner. As first-time dog parents, we were anxious to do things right and so we researched for days and weeks on end on training tips, food choices, dog socialization, what to ask your vet, what to ask your breeder, and the list goes on and on...

It was winter when Bruner arrived home and we got him the standard leashes and collars. I hadn't even thought about getting him a harness for his walks. Bruner as a puppy would start choking himself with every pull when using his collar for our walks. There was certainly some training that would need to be done to promote good walking behaviour.  

After seeing how much Bruner can pull and potentially hurt his little puppy neck, I went ahead and bought a harness from our local pet store. It was a lackluster design, and Bruner didn’t NOT like having something pulled over his head.  Despite lots of treats and praise, he wasn’t having any of it. He would run to his crate when we brought out his harness because he developed such a phobia. Poor guy!

Besides our dog’s hesitation putting the harness on, Bruner was walking so much better with his dog harness. I was impressed with the body handling that I had, as well as the security it offered. I had heard horror stories of puppies getting out of their collars, so living in a big city with lots of distractions, it felt safer knowing he was secure in his harness. 

I bought a few other styles hoping to try different options and found that the step-in harness was so much easier for us to handle and Bruner didn’t have the same hesitation putting it on as before. Win! Win!  

There were still some flaws I had found in the step-in harness that I thought could be even better, like a one clasp system and adjustable straps around the waist.

We have all felt, "So how does this work?", when trying to put on a dog harness and not knowing how to even put it on the dog! So simplifying the design could make it a lot easier for human and dog to take on and off.

I had noticed in Canada, the dog apparel market hadn't taken off as quickly as our American and UK counterparts. I struggled to find Canadian dog business to support besides what I would find in Pet big box stores. And that’s when I first thought, hey I could create something on my own! So, my first goal was to start a company for my Canadian dogs. No more exorbitant shipping and duties fees that would land you close to $80 - $100 CAD for one harness! I also wanted to design a harness that would be safe and easy for the owner and dog. 

So I got to work. I wanted my designs to be classic, gender neutral, and timeless. Who doesn’t love some cute stars, and I knew the plaid designs would work for when my launch would be happening in December.  

Although the step-in harness has been our pillar product and design, we also wanted to have a set. So we made accompanying collars and leashes to match. We hope we can evolve into so much more as we’ve got some BIG ambitions in the future! The pet industry is ever evolving!  So, there you have it, I started Wag & Go because ultimately I saw a gap in the market that needed to be addressed, more fashionable options for step-in harnesses!