About Us

I'm just a guy that loves his dog and wears a lot of hats. This is my dog, Buffy.

When I say I wear a lot of hats, I mean it. Yes, I juggle a lot at Dog Dad Hats, but I've also been a big fan of hats ever since I was a kid. Maybe I just don't like styling my hair. Anyways, I figured, why not sport a hat that has my own dog on it. Luckily, I have a background in design and some knowhow about e-commerce. After a couple drinks at a dog-friendly pub while spitballing around the idea, I decided to just try and get a hat made.

After a little trial-and-error on my first hat, I knew I had something because even with all the imperfections, I was SO jazzed about my hat, that I wore it everywhere. I've continued building this out so I can bring this joy to other dog lovers everywhere! And yeah, my sister has a cat, so I figured out pretty early on that this wouldn't just be about dogs.  But I can't help it that Dog Dad Hats just rolls together really well. Dog Dad. Dad Hat. Dog Dad Hats!

I know I'm not alone in taking my enthusiasm, although some may call it an obsession, for my dog to the next level—after all, Instagram is chock full of dogstagram accounts. In fact, it was while curating Buffy's instagram that I really came to accept my new status as a "dog dad". So if you're reading this, and you have an IG account for your dog, well, you're in good company!

But I digress—we're here to talk about the Dog Dad Hats origin story! 

Since my background is in graphic design, the first few hat designs I made myself—I mean, who hasn't tried doodling their dogs at one time or another? They just lay there looking at you, as if to say "paint me like one of your French girls." But as much as I'd love to sit around drawing dogs all day, I knew I'd need to build a dream team of designers to help me out. I still look over their work, coaching them along to make sure all the dogs that go onto the hats match up to an even higher caliber of illustration than I could produce. We have standards here, after all, and I don't mean poodles.

Once a dog has been illustrated in all of their majestic elegance, the illustration gets sent over to our embroidery shop. I don't own it or anything, but they're great peoples, and I stand by them—hence the "our". It's a small outfit out in Indiana that embroiders all the designs before sending it out to the happy customers that love their dogs.

Dog Dad Hats started as a fun idea, born in the idle time of the pandemic, where our days have been spent cooped in our home, with nothing to do but play with our dogs. It's been the best time of our young Buffy's life, and it's been a blast for me too. Every time another proud dog mom or dog dad places an order, it just lights up my whole day, and Buffy gets a treat.

If you're still reading this, well gosh darn that's nice of you. Thanks for checking us out, supporting a small business, and for loving your dog.

Cheers ✌🏽

Paolo, Buffy’s dad