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We’re Big Dogs Living In A Small Dog World.

We're Big Dogs Living In A Small Dog World.

Yesterday I ran into a local pet store to grab some treats for the boys. While I was there I checked out their health and beauty section to see what they had in line with calming products. They had a few things that I mentioned the other day and they also had the Thundershirts. I was just checking them out, I wasn’t intending on buying one but when the sales person asked me if I needed any help, I asked him if he they ever carried any of  XXL Thundershirts.

He said they did but they were on clearance in the back of the store because they don’t sell many of them in that size. He went and grabbed it and with a price of $12, I couldn’t pass it up.

I got a deal and I knew it.

I was happy because it’s rare that you get a deal on anything for a big dog, you usually pay more, or even worse, you can’t find anything.

If you have a giant breed dog, you know it’s true.

Not many pet companies think about the “big” dogs.

Most people have small to medium size dogs so there’s a very small market for big dog stuff.

Over the years I’ve found these particular things hard to find for big dogs:

Collars-The pet market is saturated with collars from size x-small to x-large. But x-large is about 2 inches too small for a giant breed dog. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been contacted to do a review on a dog collar only to find out that they don’t produce collars that fit giant breed dogs. Sure, I would love to have that adorable collar with a whale on it, but it doesn’t come big enough. Sigh.

Harnesses. I was at store once that had this great looking step-in harnesses. The XXL fit dogs up to 70 pounds and that’s as big as they went.  Thankfully, there’s many places online that have stepped up their game over the years and carry harnesses that fit giant breed dogs but locally, there’s nothing.

We're Big Dogs Living In A Small Dog World.

Dog toys. I’ve been able to find a handful of toys over the years that are made for big dogs but a lot of the time we settle for a size that isn’t quite ideal. Of all the dogs toys out there, there’s a very small ratio that are made for big dogs, most of them are choking hazards.

Coats, jackets, sweaters. Not that a Newfoundland really needs a sweater but sometimes a rain jacket would be nice. Seems like there’s not that much “pet fabric” to go around. Most of the time you have to look in the horse section of your local Tractor Supply or farm store to find something that will work.

Boots. I remember when I was in a store a few years ago and I saw dog boots that said they would fit a giant dog. Newfoundland was actually listed as a breed that the boot would fit on. When I took the boot out I was left wondering what type of Newfoundland had that small of a paw. Maybe a puppy? Luckily, since then, we’ve been able to find a few types of boots that actually do fit a giant paw.

Treats. Seriously, how many treats are there out in the pet market? And how many are adequate size for big dogs? Not very many that I’ve seen. I would  like my guys to chew on a treat for a few split seconds and not spend $2 per cookie. Where’s the giant size bag of treats?

Supplements. Most supplements that I see in the stores come in a 30 or 60 count which is great for most dogs, except the dogs over 100 pounds that need 10 a day. So that $40 bag of supplements will last me less than a week? No thank you. That’s why I always look at the dosage and try to find the most bang for our buck. Can’t someone make a small batch of double duty ones for the big guys?

Dosages. This isn’t a product but it’s still an issue. Common doses that I’ve seen on supplements for dogs is 0-30=1 tablet, 30-60=2 tablets, 60-90=3 tablets and 100 pounds = 4 tablets. What about the dog that weighs 150 pounds? Am I suppose to give 1 1/2 more tablets or do we just under dose dogs that weigh over 100 pounds? Basically, dogs over 100 pounds are on their own.

It’s kind of  like shopping for shoes for my husband. He wears a size 14. Not many stores carry a size 14 and when you find a store that does they usually only get 1 pair in and they go fast. Most of the time we have to special order work boots and pay a ton of money.

It’s not all bad though, I realize that probably less than 1/8 of the population has giant breed dogs and that we live in a small dog world, which makes deals like the one I got the Thudershirt all that sweeter.

Special thanks to companies like the makers of Tundershirts that realize that big dogs get scared too.

So how about you? What products do you think are hard to find for big dogs?

 

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FrenchieWiki

Wednesday 23rd of May 2018

Wow! I've never really thought about it but now I've realized I've almost never seen anything targetted toward giant dog breeds. It really must be hard shopping for them! I know how it feels because I too have huge feet lol. Always hard to find my size haha

Roise Tran

Tuesday 7th of November 2017

I am also looking for a adorable collar for my dog, because she is a giant breed, but x-large doesn’t come big enough.

Boxer Lover

Friday 27th of October 2017

Hhahahahah 70 Pounds puppy line made my day.I have Boxer dog .Boxers are true love :)

Etta

Thursday 9th of March 2017

Hi there! We have a sweet little Saint Bernard puppy (she's only 120 lbs. now) and have already had trouble finding stuff to fit. She wears a walking harness- the EZ Walk, and needs to go up a size... to the nonexistent Ultra Huge or whatever you'd call it. We've had great luck with horse toys from the local farm store, but beds, harnesses, pills (her flea/tick and heartworm meds are just NOT portioned well for big dogs) and treats are difficult already. I can't imagine how it will be when she has her full growth!

Beth

Thursday 2nd of March 2017

We don't have these same problems, but Barley is so oddly shaped that most harnesses are impossible to fit for her--she usually measures medium in the neck and large in the chest. My dachshund-corgi nephew has problems finding things that fit well, too! Thankfully, we've found lots of great Etsy stores that will customize collars and harnesses :)

Jen

Thursday 2nd of March 2017

That's awesome! I'll have to check out Etsy and see what they have in giant breed sizes!

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