The Canine Thinking Shop: Our Ethos

When purchasing and supplying products, we always aim to optimise the well-being of our clients’ canine companions whilst striving to leave as soft a footprint as possible on the wider environment and to make a positive impact on people and communities.

Welfare is at the heart of everything we do: for our clients and their canine companions; our own dogs and ourselves; and also when considering the impact that sharing our lives with dogs can have on the wider community and the planet.

Products for animals can be a particularly challenging minefield in terms of the nature and quality of ingredients or raw materials, where and how they are sourced and processed or manufactured, how they are packaged and delivered and their ultimate disposal. What we choose to use has an impact not only on our dogs’ health and well-being (and indeed our own), but of course on the well-being of the people and animals in the supply chain and on the environment. We know it’s a difficult balance and we are doing our best to help with this.

The pet industry is still a long way from offering everything we would love to see, but we strongly believe there are there are steps we can all take, individually and as organisations, to reduce, offset or avoid some of these potential negative impacts…. and maybe even create an overall positive contribution that may one day match the truly special impact that our dogs have on us.

Good for you and your dog…

Ethical. Cost effective. Tried and tested.

We take the hassle out of hunting things down to enable you to focus on enjoying time with your dog.

We carefully research the suppliers we use.
We only use products whose quality we trust and from the most ethical sources we can find.
Through years of experience testing products with our own dogs and with clients we know the good, the great and what to avoid! We share this with you so you don’t have to rely only on manufacturer descriptions.
We offer advice on what to choose for your dog and how to use it effectively to help you avoid wasting money on poor or unsuitable products.

Good for other dogs…

The shop supports our rescue partners

Dogs often need significant help to find and flourish in new homes. We use the profits on our product sales to:

offer rescue organisations free or lower cost expert behaviour and well-being advice, especially for their most troubled dogs who need specialist support, helping them all the way to their new homes – and for life where needed.
help our partner charities with donations of food, treats, chews, toys and equipment.

Good for the environment and people too…

We pledge that wherever possible we will:

Supply only products we are happy to use with our own or clients’ dogs (recognising that every dog has individual needs) and which we believe promote and enhance health and well-being, both physical and emotional.
Support our clients to choose products which are suitable for their dog, to reduce waste and improve well-being
Research the companies we purchase from and give priority to suppliers who share our ethos of high quality, welfare centric products, whilst minimising the environmental impact and have a positive effect on people (looking after their own team as well as their customers, and who contribute to the wider community through supporting local or wider charitable organisations).
Look for ranges whose content and packaging has recycled and/or recyclable content from sustainable resources and encourage our suppliers to minimise use of unnecessary plastic.
Minimise, re-use and recycle as much packaging as we can ourselves and where we do need to purchase packaging, to choose options which are as environmentally friendly as possible, in particular minimising the use of plastic.
Source locally where we can (British made and owned) and as a second choice from the EU. If we occasionally need to access products from further afield (if they have particular functions or benefits we cannot find more locally), we will review this regularly and keep looking for more local options to reduce the environmental impact of delivery as well as supporting local economies.
Recognise that the pet products industry is continuously changing and to review our suppliers and their products regularly. We always welcome feedback and suggestions from clients and suppliers about products we already offer and ideas for new ones.

And specifically for food, treats, supplements and grooming/cleaning products

Choose only products with clearly listed ingredients and which are as specific as possible about their source (e.g. no ‘meat and animal derivatives’)
We will never knowingly include any food products with Chinese origins due to quality and animal welfare concerns in the supply chain in that region.
Offer free-range, organic, pasture-raised meat choices where we can, but recognise that these are currently quite limited in the pet food chain and can be prohibitively expensive for some canine caregivers, so have other options available as well, in line with our ingredients and sourcing statements.
Look for ranges with recycled and/or recyclable packaging and encourage our suppliers to minimise use of unnecessary plastic.

And specifically for toys and equipment

Offer products which are designed to last and be used again and again to help reduce waste.