Alpine Dog Co.
What inspired you to start your business?
We owned a few dogs before Bam Bam, but he was by far the strongest and largest (he’s an American Bulldog.) He broke collar after collar, and after I broke my ribs while running through an intersection with him my husband (Mark, the amazing other half of this business) took it upon himself to create a tactical-style collar for our dog. At the time there was nothing on the Canadian market that was within the price range we wanted and fit the bill for our dog. Everything was leather and spikes, or in dull muted colours. We wanted something that felt stylish and luxurious but at the same time provided that sense of security. He made our prototype and our neighbours loved it, everyone asked for him to make one. We started selling them out of the back of our car and on Kijiji, and within a year we made a website. That being said, Bam Bam was really our starting reason. He’s the face of our logo and still after all these years one of the most stubborn, strongest dogs I know.
How would you describe your business?
We cater to medium – giant dog breeds and really focus on creating collars that speak to the dog’s personality. We offer stylish tactical gear that’s been fine tuned for everyday wear and includes gold/ rose gold/ chrome hardware, completely customized colours that are original to our brand and the largest customization selection on the dog market. We embroider almost any font you can find, and currently offer a selection of over 30 fonts and over 20 colours. We coined the “signature” style which really speaks to how luxurious these collars can be; with your dog’s name in a beautiful handwritten cursive on the collar. As for the collars themselves, we work with 1050D nylon which is the same rating of nylon used for rock climbing and line it with a padded neoprene interior so it’s comfortable enough to be worn daily. We have a manufacturer now due to demand, but still make some of our leashes in-house and customize every collar in-house so we are still very much hands on. Mark has always been great with creating and fixing things – he can build almost anything that he puts his mind to and has an invaluable background in sales and marketing. I’ve always had a bit of OCD when it comes to creative projects and love selecting materials, fonts, colours, etc. I also created our website and am self taught with coding, which was no easy feat. We learned a lot of what we know now on the way up – we were just two dog owners who wanted something we couldn’t seem to find so we made it, and realized a lot of other people wanted it too.
What’s your bestselling product?
Our bestseller is the Sofia collar – actually the entire collection; Collar/ leash/ Harness.
Why do you think it’s so popular?
It’s a colour a spent a shameful amount of hours picking out and it was to honor the birth of our first child, Sofia. It’s a custom pantone that is a muted lilac/ pink with rose gold hardware and was our most feminine tactical collar in a market full of very masculine dog gear, and I think that was why it was so loved. When we first filmed the commercial for it’s release, we filmed it with my baby in a bassinet in the centre of a white room , surrounded by dogs – an American Bully, a Cane Corso, A Malinois, and two German Shepards. It was the softest, cutest video we’ve ever done and it featured breeds notoriously stigmatized. That was really important to us.
What’s your favourite product from your shop right now?
Me and Mark have two different answers on this so here it goes:
Mark: We’ve done a few collabs; we did a collaboration collar with Amer (a known Toronto graphic and epoxy paint artist) and a tattoo collar that we did a commercial for in a parlor that was really fun. But I think one of our personal favs is the Cement; it’s an ode to Michael Jordan and features the notorious cement print covering the collar. We released it in two variations as limited editions and it’s been a personal favourite of mine ever since.
Natalie: My favourite changes all the time but right now it’s the Chocolate Martingale. We actually designed our own martingale style and gave our blueprints to our manufacturer; after a lot of back and forth we got what we wanted. It’s a tactical collar with the signature dual release clip that we use, so dogs with large necks or small heads can’t back out of it but instead of slipping over the head like a lot of martingales do, this is a clip closure. It’s thick, it’s secure and it’s beautiful. I say the chocolate because it’s another custom colour we created and it’s rich and beautiful on so many dogs.
What’s your favourite local Ontario shop?
Can’t think of anyone we shop more than Big Country Raw!
