Two people, one very hairy dog, and a drawer full of brushes that broke
Wagly exists because grooming a shedding golden retriever taught us something unflattering about the pet aisle: most of it is designed to be replaced, not used. Pins bend on the second week. Handles crack. The chew toy that promised months lasts an afternoon.
So we started buying samples instead of products — reading spec sheets, weighing handles, and brushing a very patient dog over and over until we could tell the difference between a tool that works and a tool that photographs well. What's left is a small catalogue we're happy to stand behind, sold at prices we can explain.
How it started
The third slicker brush lost half its pins inside a month. That was the one that annoyed us enough to do something about it. We wrote down what was wrong — pins too soft, tips unfinished, handle hollow — and started asking manufacturers whether any of it could be built properly.
Most said yes and sent something worse. A few sent samples worth keeping. Those took six months of real use to earn a place: couches, car seats, a carpeted stairway, and a dog who sheds enough for a second dog. Anything that snagged, rusted, or made grooming a fight went in the reject box, which is still bigger than the catalogue.
Today Wagly is a short catalogue, packed by the two of us, shipped free across Canada and the US. We'd rather grow slowly and keep that true than add fifty things we don't believe in.
If we wouldn't use it on our own dog for a year, it doesn't go in the catalogue. That rule has cost us more products than it has saved.
Three rules we don't bend
Durability over novelty
A wobbly handle or a pin that snags is enough to reject a product, even when it would sell well. Materials are listed on every product page, including the ones that sound boring.
Say the honest thing
Real delivery windows before you pay, not after. Reviews we never write ourselves. If something is out of stock for a month, the page says a month.
Kind to the animal
Rounded pin tips, non-toxic rubber, nothing that turns a ten-minute brush into a wrestling match. A tool the dog tolerates gets used; one that hurts sits in a drawer.
Slow on purpose
The bad-brush drawer. Eleven grooming tools bought, nine thrown out. We start writing down exactly what fails and how fast.
First four samples. Six months of testing on couches, carpets and car seats before any of them get a product page.
Wagly opens. Free shipping to Canada and the US, thirty days to change your mind, boxes packed by the two of us.
Repairs, not replacements. Spare pin pads and replacement heads, so a tool that's earned its keep can stay in service.
Small enough to answer your email
There is no support team. There are two of us, one grooming advisor who tells us when we're wrong, and a dog who tests everything first.
Name here
Co-founder, productWrites the spec sheets, argues with factories, and breaks samples on purpose.
Name here
Co-founder, operationsPacks the boxes, tracks the shipments, and replies to every support message herself.
Name here
Grooming advisorFifteen years behind a grooming table. Vetoed two products before launch.
Biscuit
Chief testing officerSheds enough for a second dog. Every brush meets him before it meets you.