Why We Are Good for You, Your Dog, and the Planet!

An important cornerstone of 4 Legged Designs is supporting sustainable, organic design.

• Our silk is from hand reared silk worms in mulberry trees that are organically fertilized with composted seeds from the neem tree. The fabric is made on antique handlooms in a cottage industry environment and, as a result, supports the weaving families directly.
• A very special organic cotton has been chosen for the Jade amulet. It is our good fortune to offer this beautiful pattern by Harmony Susalla – a textile designer producing beautifully printed organic cotton textiles and dedicated to green principles. This is the first of other collars we will offer in collaboration with Harmony Art Designs.
• Our gemstones are completely natural. Most gemstones today are enhanced with toxic treatments using dyes, chemical baths and, amazingly, irradiation to deepen the color and therefore the value of the gemstone. We go to great lengths to make sure all our gemstones are totally natural so dogs and people are not putting toxic materials against their skin. And, of course, these harsh enhancing treatments destroy the healing frequencies of the gemstones.
• All our products are created in the USA by local artisans and in a woman-owned factory in San Francisco.
• All the clasps and decorative findings in our products are the finest quality sterling silver – strong and beautiful.
• Hemp is an extraordinary material whose wonderful properties we’ve saved for last:
  • Hypo-allergic and anti-bacterial
  • Softens with each washing without loosing its strength and durability
  • Completely biodegradable
  • Grown without any chemicals – good news for the wearer and for the workers who harvest it. [Non-organic cotton production has one of the highest rates of illness among its workers because of the high levels of chemicals needed to grow it.]
  • Products made from hemp could replace most toxic petro-chemical plastic products and products made from wood with biodegradable versions. Can you imagine what that would do to our dependence on oil imports and the clear-cutting of our forests?
  • Hemp is not a psychoactive drug and your dog will not become intoxicated if they chew on their collar.
  • Hemp was one of the major crops during the early years of Washington and Jefferson who both grew hemp. Because of its incredible properties, Americans were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and Early Republic. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the first Gutenberg bible were all printed on hemp paper.