How Bruce & Otis began

Bruce & Otis started with two dogs, a lot of walks and more than a few questionable decisions around regional Queensland.

Bruce is a tiny black and tan dachshund who is certain he is the biggest dog in any room. Otis is his considerably sturdier French bulldog partner in crime: usually nearby, occasionally helpful, always interested in snacks.

Then Bruce lost his AirTag. Not Bruce, thankfully, just the tag. But it got us thinking about what would happen if our little sausage got out and his AirTag didn’t work. A tracker is only useful while it’s on the collar and the battery lasts. We wanted a backup plan: something that works the moment a stranger finds him, with no app to download and no battery to go flat.

We looked for one and couldn’t find what we wanted. A tag that was properly made, designed in Australia, and backed by an app that could do it all: tell the finder who to call, let us know he’d been found, and keep everything about him in one place.

So we made it. That’s B&O Pet Co, and that’s Collarmate.

Made for pets with places to be

Pets don’t stay home. They come to the beach, the farm, the pub and the back of the ute. The gear they wear should keep up, and it should help them get home if the adventure runs long.

That second part matters most to us. Every year thousands of Australian pets go missing, and most are found by someone who just wants to get them home and has no idea who to call. A tracker tells you where they are. A Collarmate Tag tells the person who found them who to call, and tells you they’re safe.

We’re a small family business in Toowoomba, Queensland. Every order is packed by us, checked by Bruce, and built around things we’d happily use with our own dogs.

Practical. Good-looking. Made for adventure.

Our first product is the Collarmate Tag: a custom engraved metal pet ID tag with their name on the front and their QR code on the back. Scan it and you land on their Collarmate Profile, the details you choose to share, updated whenever you like rather than stamped on metal forever.

Choose round, bone, pebble or flower in brass, stainless steel, copper or matt black, engraved by us in Toowoomba and posted anywhere in Australia.

Collarmate began as a way to get pets home. It’s fast becoming their whole world, connected: health reminders, a digital pet folder, a lost pet plan and the people who love them, all in one place.

Collars, leads, harnesses and the Bruce & Otis picture books are next. Same idea behind all of it:

Every adventure deserves a way home.

Bruce, Otis and their humans
Founders, B&O Pet Co. · Toowoomba, Queensland