Under Pressure’s own accounts/distro goddess, Rosh, brought home a baby Boston Terrier recently. After a couple of hours of doggy/baby talking her, calling everyone she knew to tell them the wonderful news, hyperventilating, calling everyone she knew to tell them she was now freaking out that this was a bad idea, and then staring lovingly into GG’s squashed face and dewy eyes, she finally turned to me and said, “I already know which DoggStar collar I want for her.”

That was pretty much the first moment where I felt that she knew what she was talking about. If you love your dog, Jonathan Asselin is the man to talk to.

Company name: DoggStar Canine Design Inc.

Owned by: Jonathan David Asselin

D.O.B.: July 31^st, 1974

Birthplace: Magog, QC [but grew up in Montreal; mostly Cote-des-Neiges and N.D.G.]

Personal History:

Graduated high school in 1991. Spent the next ten years in a series of highly interesting dead-end jobs. Worked as a doorman; a cook; a waiter; a comedy club promoter; a baker; a security guard; a body-work guy (restoring Vespas and Lambrettas); a high-rise window washer; and a bike messenger all before launching his small business in 2001.

Since then, to make ends meet, he has been a suit salesman; a pet store clerk; and a sex shop cashier.

Company History:

DoggStar began as a design and manufacturing firm with plans to get licensed by the NHL (…NFL, NBA, etc.) to make dog accessories for them. It didn’

t work out. Following a burnout and a brief stint in shmata, Jonathan picked up his socks and gave custom-made collars a go. He is still going.

(Also see Bully: It’

s The Pits by Paul 107)

Misc:

He would like to talk about his work method which is:

a) always creative;

b) always evolving; and

c) always leading to the improvement of his craft…

He does not mass produce. In fact, he makes every collar from scratch, often figuring out how to go about it as he works. He does, of course, draw from his six years of collar making experience as he does this, but the actual method employed for each piece varies greatly and often leads to new techniques being pioneered and developed. This, he believes, is what has kept him ahead in the innovation department. He also allows his customers’

preferences to shape the look of his offerings, marrying their demands with his aesthetic sensibility and attention to function & durability in order to create a unique and practical style which is all his own.