A Fond Farwell TTFN!

8/26/2026

Hello friends,

What a bittersweet, rollercoaster of a summer it's been.

Since the beginning of July when I announced the closure of Bold Lead Designs LLC in its current format, I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from the BLD community. All of you BLD fans rallied to support this little company in a way that has simply blown my mind and warmed my heart. You all have cleared out nearly every leash we had in stock. I have the photos to prove it! 

As of today, as I write, there are some Perfect Pace and service dog patches still available. But I'd love to not have to pack up any product, so BOGO sales are on! And the few remaining leashes and assorted things laying around the shop have been gathered up and curated into Mystery Boxes available only to email subscribers via a secret link. With only 3 days left to go, I hope you're able to snag that last minute something from the online store. 

Since business has been slow for a couple of years, I was absolutely not prepared to receive 6 months of business in a single month. Holy cow. When I say I have the BEST clients in the whole world, I really mean it. You all are just amazing. THANK YOU.

My tiny team and I are now working on the longest list of harness orders we've ever had since opening in 2008. We are equipped to make about 20-25 harnesses per month; We received 82 harness orders in July. All of this after I've been forced to lay off most of my team. (This is most certainly the worst, most heartbreaking part of being an employer. If I could write a product review for layoffs, it would receive ZERO STARS, Do not recommend!) So needless to say, it is taking considerably longer than usual to get each order completed. But we will. 

Right now, it's just me, my fantastic customer service specialist Bill, and a part-time helper that steps in when my hands can't do the work. We will keep working at full throttle until every last order is fulfilled, and each harness is properly fitted. I'm not sure how long it will take, but we're in until the end. That's a promise. I mean it when I say that we guarantee a great fit. So, after the last harness is completed, we're here for 4 weeks to make good on that "Great Fit Guarantee." 

I have been informed I'm leaving a vacuum in the service dog harness industry. People keep telling me my little company makes the best harnesses in the world and that no one else even comes close. This both warms my heart, and tears it out. So, I want to assure you that I'm not walking away forever.

If there's one thing I've learned over the past 8 weeks, it's how important biomechanically correct harnesses are to all of you who train or rely on service dogs for mobility/balance assistance. And there is simply no substitute for what I do best. This is still my specialty and passion. I literally don't know what I would do if I'm not doing this. 

After an overdue hiatus, I will find new and better ways to bring this equipment to the dogs and people that rely on them. I don't know what that will look like yet, but one thing I know for sure is that I am no longer able to perform administrative tasks necessary to run the business side of things. I'm no longer good at managing operations, marketing, or any of those important functions. But I trust there are some people who can do all of this far better than I can. As a client recently said, "this is now an end, but a new beginning."

As all good things must come to an end, I will be taking down the online store after the end of day August 31, 2026. The website itself will stay up for now, and I will maintain my list of email subscribers. And we're here to support customers with orders still in process until the end (more on that below).

For those of you in the training industry, I am still planning to be at the 2026 CANIS conference in October. I had already purchased a booth space before I made the decision to close. I'm unsure of how it will work out, but I won't let it go to waste. The Universe apparently thinks I need to be there. So, I'll see where that leads. 

Ta-ta for now, friends. I hope to see you soon.

Best regards, Katrina Boldry

P.S. Anyone interested in talking shop can email me directly at kboldry@boldleaddesigns.com. I'll eventually check my inbox. :)

I will maintain the email subscriber list. Please stay subscribed if you want to know of any future business developments. 

Current state of the product room: