Hi, I’m Kerrie, and welcome to Long Dog.
This is my little empire with a big attitude. It’s inspired, naturally, by those short-legged sausage dogs who strut around like they own the place. (They do. We just pay the bills.)
I’ll be honest: I’m a lot like them. Emotionally unfiltered, sometimes a bit too much, and very possibly on purpose.
It all started with Lulu
Lulu was a little brown, smooth-haired dachshund with opinions. Lots of them.
In 2014, she broke her back in a freak accident. If you know dachshunds and their dodgy backs, you’ll know how scary that news was. The vet gave us two options: surgery, or keep her completely still for two months.
We went with option two.
Now, anyone who’d met Lulu would’ve laughed out loud at “keep her still.” She was the tomboy of our two girls, full of attitude, and she had zero intention of lying quietly and doing as she was told for eight whole weeks.
So I rearranged my life to stay home and look after her. Somewhere in those long weeks, we built a bond I still can’t quite put into words.
Lulu talked to me. Okay, not literally, though I’d happily argue that point. She had a different bark for everything, and I understood every one. I called it her “speaking French.” It had this gorgeous, slightly husky gruffness to it, and I always knew exactly what she meant.
And then my brain did its thing
With my bossy little muse lying at my feet, my brain went into overdrive. I started digging into dachshund products, ideas and businesses, and a slightly mad idea began to take shape.
My husband was away at the time. When he got home, I braced myself to pitch it, fully expecting him to think I’d lost the plot after one too many weeks cooped up with an injured sausage dog.
But right in the middle of a really tough time, Long Dog was born. What started as a crazy late-night idea grew into a business with personality, a life of its own and, most of all, a heart.
Missing my girl
Lulu passed away in 2023. Even typing that hurts.
So much of her lives on in Long Dog, which makes me incredibly proud, and also means there’ll always be a little ache in it. My French-speaking muse isn’t at my feet anymore.
Her sister Mitzi has stepped up, though. She sits in on every big decision, rides along on deliveries, and takes courier runs very seriously.
The bit that changed me
Long Dog pulled me into the wider dachshund world. Alongside all the silly photos, big personalities and tiny legs, I started seeing the other side: rescue, neglect, abuse. Dogs thrown away by the very people they trusted.
I really struggle with that. I want to help every single one. I want to shout at selfish humans. I want to fix it all. And whatever I do never quite feels like enough.
Dogs make love look easy. It’s us humans who complicate it.
So every order gives back
Every invoice on the website includes a compulsory R10 donation that goes towards helping dogs in need.
I know R10 doesn’t sound like much (I wish I could ask for more!). But one R10 becomes another, and another, and another. With your help, those little amounts add up to something that really matters for the dogs who need humans to show up for them.
Loud, proud and a little bit outrageous
This shop is where I bring together my talents and those of some wonderful makers to create things with personality and purpose.
I don’t want Long Dog whispering politely from the corner. I want it to shout. Funny, emotional, slightly outrageous, occasionally inappropriate and completely unfiltered, just like a dachshund.
What I’m up against is what I call disposable-commitment culture: the idea that you can just toss something aside once it gets inconvenient, difficult or doesn’t fit neatly into your life anymore. Dogs deserve so much better than that.
So Long Dog isn’t here to be the cheapest or the quickest. It’s here because I believe the things we buy can mean more: a real story, a real person, a real hand behind every piece, and a real contribution to a dog who needed someone to care.
This is Lulu’s legacy
Long Dog exists because one stubborn little brown dachshund broke her back and, without meaning to, changed the whole direction of my life.
So if you buy something, laugh at something we’ve made, share a post, support one of our makers, or add another R10 to our growing pot of kindness, you’re part of her story too. You’re part of a community of people who love these little dogs fiercely and want to give something back.
Welcome to Long Dog. I hope you love owning a piece of something that matters: a piece of Lulu’s story, a piece of mine, and now a little piece of yours too.
Kerrie 
P.S. Long Dog started out all about dachshunds back in 2014. But all dogs are special, so the range has grown, and there are even a few things for our feline friends.