Dog Friendly Co
Year:
2026 - Present
Service:
Fractional COO
Industry:
Retail / Apparel
Size:
50 employees
Dog Friendly Co. built a loyal customer base of over 800,000 dog owners across the US, UK, and Australia. When their supply chain started breaking under the weight of that growth, we came in to fix it.
Introduction
Dog Friendly Co. is a fast-scaling DTC pet accessories brand selling harnesses, collars, leashes, beds, and apparel across the US, UK, and Australia through Shopify. Over 200,000 customers. A product range built around quality, comfort, and colour - 16 colourways across core SKUs, lifetime warranties, and a 60-day risk-free trial that signals genuine confidence in the product.
The brand had done everything right on the customer-facing side. Strong creative, clear positioning, and a product that genuinely delivers on its promise. The reviews say as much.
But behind the storefront, the supply chain was struggling to keep pace. Manufacturing was split across multiple suppliers in China with inconsistent lead times and no formal governance framework. The US 3PL operation had become a source of daily problems - order delays running into the thousands, inventory sync failures, and a fulfilment partner who had effectively gone dark on senior management.
Dog Friendly Co. needed an operator to come in, own the problem, and build the infrastructure the brand needed to scale. That's what we're doing.
Challenge
Scaling a DTC brand across three international markets - the US, UK, and Australia - with a multi-supplier manufacturing base and high-volume fulfilment demands is operationally complex. The faster you grow, the more pressure every part of the supply chain comes under simultaneously.
Dog Friendly Co. had reached the stage where the operational infrastructure needed to evolve in step with the commercial ambition. The supplier base needed formalising. The fulfilment operation needed restructuring. And the business needed a clear operational roadmap that could support not just current volume, but the growth that was already in the pipeline — including a new product category launch that would bring its own set of supply chain requirements.
The opportunity was significant. So was the risk of getting it wrong.
Solution
We came in as the operational lead and took ownership across both the supply chain and fulfilment workstreams from day one.
We began with a full operational audit - mapping the supply chain from factory floor to customer door across all seven production partners and the US fulfilment operation. The audit identified over $1,000,000 in operational risk and recoverable value across the business - a combination of cost exposure, supply chain vulnerability, and commercial opportunity that the brand had no visibility of before we came in.
From there we built and began executing against a prioritised operational roadmap. Supplier standards were formalised. A raw materials buffer policy was agreed with key manufacturing partners, eliminating a supply risk that had created problems in previous seasons. The US fulfilment operation was restructured, with a new 3PL partner selected and the transition managed to protect continuity of service throughout the handover.
The new product category launch - which required a different set of operational and regulatory requirements from the existing range — was built into the roadmap and is being planned in parallel.
We are embedded in the business, managing the operation, and working through the roadmap systematically.
Result
This engagement is ongoing. The work is in execution.
$1,000,000+ in operational risk and recoverable value identified in the initial audit. Full supplier audit completed across all seven production partners. Raw materials buffer policy agreed - supply risk eliminated. US fulfilment transition underway with a new 3PL partner. Supplier standards framework in deployment across the manufacturing base. New product category launch infrastructure in planning.
Dog Friendly Co. has the brand, the audience, and the commercial momentum to become a category-defining business. We are building the operational foundation that gets them there.
