Black-Owned Pet Brands
Dog Products Shopping GuideCopy: Serena Faber-Nelson Photography: As Listed
Written by
Serena Faber-NelsonUpdated 1 September 2026 · 8 Min Read
Pet lifestyle expert Serena Faber-Nelson is the founder of Pretty Fluffy. A contributor to Everyday with Rachael Ray, Modern Dog Magazine, Cesars Way and more; her modern, stylized take on DIY dog treats has seen her recipes viewed millions of times over. Serena is the author of the go-to dog mom bible, Dog Mama, and the popular dog treat recipe book, Healthy Homemade Dog Treats.
Some of the most original work in the pet industry is coming out of small, independent studios, and a lot of it never reaches the shelves of the big retailers. The Black-owned pet brands below are ones we have followed, bought from, and featured over the years, and every one of them is still making and shipping today.
You will find organic treats, streetwear harnesses, fresh food designed by veterinary nutritionists, handmade bow ties, hand-knitted alpaca sweaters, and ID tags with more personality than most people's business cards. If you want to widen the net further, our dog lovers directory is where we keep the full list of makers worth knowing.
Black-Owned Dog Brands to Know
The best-known Black-owned pet brands include Pet Plate for fresh cooked food, Trill Paws for ID tags and collars, Ava's Pet Palace and Lick You Silly for treats, Fresh Pawz for streetwear, Beaux & Paws for handmade bow ties, House Dogge for eco-conscious toys, Bark and Tumble for knitwear, and Homescape Pets for supplements. Most sell direct through their own websites, and several are now stocked by major retailers.
1
Pet Plate
Personalized meals designed by veterinary nutritionists and delivered to your door. MIT graduate Renaldo Webb launched Pet Plate after consulting for some of the large pet food companies and deciding his own dog deserved better. He wanted a fresher option built on human-grade ingredients that still delivered a complete, balanced diet.
The range now covers gently cooked entrees, oven-baked options, toppers, and supplements, with plans portioned to your dog's size and needs. If you have been curious about fresh food but put off by the guesswork, this is one of the easier ways in.
2
Trill Paws
We have featured Trill Paws' cooler than cool tags here before and we still love them just as much. Founder Rachel Jones started the Los Angeles brand because pet ID tags were dull, and the result is a catalog of tags people actually stop you in the street to read.
Favorites include "Have Your People Call My People," "Call Mom," and "Not All Who Wander." The line has since grown into collars, leashes, bowls, and mini charms for microchipped and medicated dogs. The hardest decision will be which one to pick. If tags are your weakness, our guide to luxury dog collars pairs well with them.
3
Ava's Pet Palace
Talk about inspired. Ava Dorsey started her treat company at eight years old after wondering what was actually in the treats she was feeding her pets. More than a decade on, the brand is stocked in Target and shipping nationwide, and it still holds to the founding rule of seven ingredients or fewer.
From Gone Bananas biscuits to Snappin' Salmon jerky and freeze-dried single-protein bites, there is something to tempt every pooch. A portion of every purchase supports rescues, and you will find more makers like this in our dog food and treats directory.
4
Lick You Silly
Barbara Clarke Ruiz spent twenty-five years as an activewear designer, working with names like Nike, Adidas and New Balance, before turning that eye on the treat aisle. She started making her own after her Yorkies kept getting sick on store-bought treats, and Lick You Silly is the result.
The premise is refreshingly simple: single-ingredient, freeze-dried USDA meat, made in the USA, with nothing else in the bag. Beef liver and chicken liver are the ones to start with, and the seasoning toppers are a clever trick for fussy eaters. The brand donates a share of proceeds to shelters.
5
Fresh Pawz
Founded in 2018 by Christopher Cargnoni, Fresh Pawz calls itself the official streetwear brand for dogs, and it has the collaborations to back the claim. The Los Angeles label makes harnesses, leashes, hoodies, and tees with the kind of branding and graphics you would happily wear yourself.
It is the rare small pet brand that has crossed into mainstream retail, turning up at Zumiez, Petco, and Macy's. If your dog's wardrobe leans more sneaker than cable knit, start here, then compare the fit against our pick of designer dog harnesses.
6
Beaux & Paws
Sir Darius Brown began making bow ties as a boy, after physical therapy exercises for his fine motor skills turned into a knack for working with fabric. He has been designing them for shelter pets ever since, and the brand now ships worldwide.
Every bow tie is cut and finished by hand in limited runs, so no two are quite alike, and each one bought sends another to a shelter animal. The thinking is lovely and practical at once: a dapper dog photographs better, and a better photo gets adopted faster.
7
House Dogge
Prepare for your jaw to hit the floor when you see House Dogge's collection of toys and doggie sweatshirts. Designer and owner Angela brings serious credentials to the Portland studio, having previously worked as a design director at Nike, and it shows in the restraint and the finish.
There is a glorious emphasis on natural textiles here: cotton, vegetable-tanned leather, merino wool. The quality is second to none, and the small-batch, eco-conscious approach runs through everything from the toys to the packaging.
8
Bark and Tumble
Founder Leah Betram put her fashion design degree to work creating tailored, luxe knitwear for fashion-forward pooches, and the UK label has since grown well beyond jumpers. As stylish as they are cozy, you will find it hard to stop at one.
The collection now spans hand-finished knits, woven blankets, toys, and a natural petcare line, all built around ethically sourced materials. Their cable and star jumpers are the pieces we keep coming back to, and they sit nicely alongside the picks in our best dachshund sweaters roundup.
9
Homescape Pets
Nana and Marcus, with help from their furry sidekicks, created Homescape Pets to offer holistic alternatives for common pet complaints. The family-run Austin business keeps its formulas deliberately short, usually three ingredients or fewer, which makes them easy to reach for without a long label-reading session.
Anyone with a senior dog will want to look at their mobility blend, and owners of anxious pups rave about the calming oil. A good brand for anyone focused on their dog's day-to-day wellbeing.
10
Enjoy-A-Bowl
Dr. Joe J. Owens III is a veterinarian who kept meeting the same problem in his clinic: dogs put onto a prescription diet who then flatly refused to eat it. His answer was a three-part bowl with a sealed lower compartment, so the aroma of something more tempting rises through the food the dog actually needs to eat.
It is a niche product, and a genuinely useful one if your vet has put your dog on a therapeutic diet and mealtimes have become a standoff. Worth saying plainly though: a dog that has gone off its food is telling you something, and persistent appetite loss is a conversation with your vet rather than a problem to solve with equipment.
Pet Brands Founded by Women of Color
The brands below sit alongside the list above rather than inside it, because Black-owned and founded-by-a-woman-of-color are not the same claim and we would rather label each one accurately than blur them together. Both of these have been Pretty Fluffy favorites for years.
11
Alqo Wasi
Alqo Wasi has been a favorite of mine for years now. The name literally means "Dog Home" in Quechua, the language of the Incas, and founder Patricia Queirolo created the brand to showcase one-of-a-kind pieces handcrafted by Peruvian artisans.
The range covers timeless dog sweaters, ponchos, tees, and accessories, all made with alpaca fiber blends or organic cotton using traditional hand-knitting and hand-looming techniques. The designs are beyond beautiful and the quality is second to none. Readers regularly tell us their Alqo Wasi sweaters have outlasted the dog they were bought for.
12
Saint Rue
Saint Rue is the epitome of modern style. Founded by Los Angeles creative director Nikki Star, the label takes its cues from street fashion, with matching leashes, collars, and accessories for you and your dog. The matching bag straps and shoelaces are the details that win people over.
With its short padded handle, the City Leash is one of my all-time favorite leashes and I use it constantly. Everything is made from premium vegan materials rather than animal leather, and the brand donates a share of proceeds to mental health charity.
How to Keep Supporting These Brands
Small independent pet businesses have a hard time of it. In researching this update we found that half the brands originally featured here have since closed their doors, which is a sobering rate and a good argument for buying from them while you can rather than bookmarking for later.
A few things that genuinely help. Buy direct from the brand's own site where you can, since marketplace fees eat a real share of a small maker's margin. Leave reviews, because independent brands live or die by them. Tag them when your dog is wearing their work. And if you are shopping for a gift, choose an independent maker over a big-box equivalent, which is the single easiest swap on this list.
On our side, we actively seek out pet brands owned by Black women and men, Indigenous people, and people of color when we build our gift guides and seasonal features, which are the pieces that reach the most readers. We also push for more diverse imagery in the shoots we commission and in what we accept from brand partners. We describe a founder's background only where they or their brand have said so publicly, and we take a brand off this page when it closes rather than leaving a dead link behind. If there is a brand we should know about, tell us. Several of the best names here reached us because a reader wrote in.
For more of the makers we rate, browse our behind the brands features, our pick of aesthetic dog toys, and the dog apparel and accessories directory.
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