“I’m the sole proprietor of Island Petwear, which is a custom pet wear store. Based in my home, I started about a year and a half ago in Borden-Carlton, PEI. I realized that pets, like people, one size doesn’t always fit all. So therefore I decided to look after all the sizes of all that pets that needed clothing, footwear and accessories.

Prior to Island Petwear, I would take my neighbour’s dog Morgan for walks. By November, her paws were coming up and she was cold and shivering. So I went to a sewing place, got a pattern for pet wear, and started making clothes for Morgan.

By the next month I said: “That’s it, all kinds of pets need me.” So I started to design outfits for pets as a business out of my home.

45% of dog owners have taken their pets on vacation.

Island Petwear offers all items of pet wear, including under coats, mini coats, rain coats, and even footwear, whether it be for rain wear or indoor wear or going to cocktail parties or church boots.

The advantages of dealing with Island Petwear is number one, I guarantee my work. And for the stress points of an outfit, where there’s going to be a zipper or snaps, I sew and double sew all of those areas. So I guarantee a fit and I guarantee my workmanship.

The total expenditure on pets in Canada exceeds that spent on children's toys, footwear, eye care and dental plans combined.

Start-up costs at the very beginning were not too high. I purchased some equipment: a new sewing machine and a new serger. So for anyone, if they were to start this type of business, certainly they would need a good $5,000-7,000 just to have the basics.”