Lily and her family test and review Doggy Chic Essentials
Hello everyone, my name is Lily and I’m a Test Doggy for Bows and Whistles. I was born in September 2020 and I am a very active Sprollie, a Springer Spaniel/Collie mix. I was born on a farm in the West Country so I’m a real country lass. I love the beach, hiking, trail running, feeling the wind flapping my ears when the top is down on mums car, I really, really love swimming and have just taken up sailing and paddle boarding! My love of water must come from my mum and dad. Mum is a Canine Hydrotherapist and dad is a Royal Navy Marine Engineer. Mum says I’m a very happy girly but a bit of a tomboy, not really sure what she means………
We were asked by Bows and Whistles to test their new Doggy Chic Essentials range so they could make sure it ‘worked’ before it went on sale for everyone to enjoy. They gave us a collar, lead and harness in a beautiful purple, one of my favourite colours, to try and the nice lady that spoke to mum said to let me do what I would normally do and then some, really go mad in it – yep I’m your girl for that, no problem! We tried them out for about a month and we really liked them.
What mum said…….. We really like all the products, they are easy to use and practical in a range of different environments (Walking, swimming, running, climbing up and down hills, in the car attached to a seat belt clip, on lead and off-lead – both short and flexi). The material is lightweight and has a soft feel which makes me think it would be nice and comfy to wear, and Lily seems to agree, she is happy to have the harnesses and collar put on her and wears them happily while she charges around – she barely seems to notice they are on her! The deep purple colour is lovely and really complements her black and white markings. I think this is a nice colour on her as its not too girly as she is a bit of a tomboy, but it is still girly enough so more people know she’s a girl (as quite often she would get mistaken for a boy). As the material is nice and lightweight, it also works quite well for her being a water-loving dog, as it doesn’t weigh her down when it gets wet and also dries quickly, and is washable which is great for our mucky pup!
Lily in Doggy Chic Essentials
The collar is simple, easy to use and adjust. The material is lightweight and soft so I would imagine it is comfy and doesn’t weigh her down. She seems very comfortable in it.
The lead is a nice soft material making it nice to hold. The ring in the handle is great for poo bags obviously, but also I personally find it really useful, as most of the time we have Lily off-lead, so when I let her off, I wrap the lead round my waist and clip onto the ring, freeing up both my hands and pockets and also making it easy access if I need to put Lily back on the lead at any point. I really like how easy it clips onto the D rings of the harness as you don’t need to use your thumb to pull the clip down, it can just be pushed onto the ring instead. So this makes it quick and easy to put her on the lead.
We only have one other harness for Lily that goes over her head so it took a little while to get her (and us) used to putting on the step in harness. She was a bit confused at first and even with coaxing with treats she wasn’t sure about putting her feet in, however after a few days she got used to it and now sits nicely and wait for us to pick her paws up and put them through (and we also got better and quicker at doing it). Once we all got used to it we found we really liked it and so did Lily! This is our favourite of the products sent to us. It fits nicely but is not too tight so she has room to move. There is also lots of room for adjustment so has been great as she’s grown so much. It takes the pressure off of the neck and provides a more safe and even (over the body) level of control for when she is on the lead or in the car which is ultimately the goal of a harness for us.
