Our Dogma

What Makes D-fa Gear Different To Other Stuff?

So, we hear you ask, what makes a D-fa dog jacket or piece of equipment different to other brands? How do we make gear that's truly fit for a Dog?
On the design side, it's quite simple (although not easy).

Because there are no straight lines on a dog, there are no straight lines on D-fa Dog jackets.

D-fa's Fit-To-Move design means every panel is curved, tapered and articulated to achieve the most ergonomic fit across a wide range of body shapes. Even our buckles are placed on angles to make sure that they follow the line of the dog rather than interrupt it. The simple adjustments are placed where they are most needed to find the best fit on deep chests, broad shoulders, narrow waists and all of the gloriously doggy combinations in between.
   

Better Fabrics, Better Performance

The better the fabric, the better the performance of the gear. 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.   

The First Stitch to the Last Buckle 

Making great gear isn't just about the design and the fabric, it's about the people that put in everything from the first stitch to the last buckle. Our gear is made all over the world in places where we find the right expertise to deliver on our designs. We make our Merino Ice-Barker in New Zealand at the source of this beautiful, natural fibre; our Flotation in China where we found a specialist flotation manufacturer and the great teams at TDL and Sole Survivor in New Zealand make most of the jackets for antipodean customers so our gear doesn't take an around-the-world-trip to reach you.  

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 Puff Doggy and the swivelling carabiner in our leads that turns with your dog instead of winding up your lead. 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?