Truelove Magnetic Dog Harness Tops PATS 2026 New Product Awards as UK Retailers Crown 12 Winners
Executive Summary: UK pet retailers judged 400+ new products at PATS 2026 in Birmingham and crowned 12 category winners on September 27, 2026. The Truelove Ultra-light Magnetic Top Harness took the harness category, while Chinese exhibitor Chongqing Pet Union won small-animal products.
Key Facts
- Event
- PATS 2026 New Product Awards, day one
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Industry
- Pet and aquatics trade — accessories, food, care, aquatics
- Category
- Trade show product awards
- Date
- 2026-09-27 (awards presented at close of day one; show runs to September 29)
- Location
- NEC Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Source
- Pet Business World
What Happened
PATS 2026 — the UK Pet & Aquatics Trade Show, running September 27-29 at the NEC in Birmingham — presented its New Product Awards at the close of day one on September 27. Retailer judges assessed 400+ products in the New Product Showcase across 12 categories, scoring innovation, design, quality, packaging, value and sustainability. Sponsored by Leopard Co and supported by PBW News, the awards are the show’s barometer of what UK buyers will stock next spring.
Twelve products won. Winners: Danish Design’s Pet Tee Pee (cat accessories & toys); The Nutriment Company’s Purrform Fresh Deli (cat food); Real Simple Naturaw (dog food); Su Bridge’s Pure & Natural Doggy Bag natural chew variety pack (dog treats); Fidelis Dog’s Booster Enrichment Toy Range (dog accessories & toys); the Truelove x That Dog Ultra-light Magnetic Top Harness (harnesses, leads & wear); Chongqing Pet Union Biological Technology’s Teewy Meadow Wheel (small animal & bird); Oralade Active+ (pet care); Hound Hose Portable Dog Washer (grooming); Sera Group’s Interpet Scape Kit Cube Aquariums (aquatics indoor); Anglo Aquatic Plant’s Pond in a Pot (aquatics outdoor); and Pet Remedy’s reptile calming kit (reptile).
Background
The judging comments reveal what UK retailers reward. The Truelove harness won for serving owners with dexterity issues — a magnetic closure that clicks shut one-handed — while looking, in the judges’ words, like a cool product. Fidelis’s enrichment range won on build quality and price point for larger dogs. The Su Bridge chew variety pack filled a gap the judges said the natural-feeding world had waited a long time for.
Industry Context
Three signals sit under the trophy list. Enrichment products keep climbing — a dog toys category spanning puzzle feeders through the Booster range’s hard-wearing builds for large breeds — and the interactive dog toys-style enrichment award confirms retailers see it as a repeat-purchase margin line. Hydration and wellness (Oralade Active+) and grooming hardware (Hound Hose) show services-adjacent products moving into retail. The small-animal win for Chongqing Pet Union’s naturally produced Meadow Wheel marks another Chinese manufacturer winning a Western trade jury on design and sustainability, not price.
For suppliers, PATS is where those judgments get made in front of the buyers who matter; the show floor also previewed Rosewood’s Mr Men and Little Miss licensed dog toys under a Sanrio UK licence for January 2027 delivery.
Market & Business Impact
Winning a PATS award converts directly into listings: UK independents use the showcase to plan spring buys and distributors use it to pick up lines. The judging criteria — innovation, design, quality, packaging, value, sustainability — double as a free product-development brief weighted by the people who sign orders.
The 12-category spread maps where innovation is active right now. Aquatics took two awards, evidence that tank keeping is generating real product development, and GPI tracks 82 aquarium filters retailer businesses — a demand pocket the winners will feed. Treats are a sourcing-led category: before listing a winning chew assortment, UK buyers typically audit the dog treats manufacturer behind it. The harness win matters because search demand for dog harness products runs into the hundreds of thousands monthly, and a dexterity-friendly magnetic closure is a genuinely new mechanism in a market full of cosmetic variants.
Companies & Brands Involved
Winning companies span the UK (Danish Design, Su Bridge, Hound Hose, Oralade, Anglo Aquatic Plant, Pet Remedy, Real Simple Naturaw), Europe (Sera Group, The Nutriment Company) and Asia (Truelove x That Dog; Chongqing Pet Union Biological Technology of China). Fidelis Dog and Rosewood round out the names making product news. Trade buyers vetting award-winning suppliers can cross-reference records in the GPI Company Directory.
Data & Evidence
Verified facts: 12 awards across 12 categories at the close of day one on September 27, 2026; 400+ products entered in the New Product Showcase; more than 425 exhibitors at PATS 2026 at the NEC Birmingham, September 27-29, co-located with BETA International and debuting a first International Pavilion; winners as listed above per Pet Business World. Rosewood previewed a nine-piece Mr Men and Little Miss licensed dog toy range (six plush, three latex) for January 2027 delivery.
What This Means for the Pet Industry
Read the winner list as a demand map. UK retailers rewarded accessibility design (the magnetic harness), functional honesty (a mixed natural-chew bag), welfare science (a reptile calming kit) and sustainable manufacture (the Meadow Wheel) — across categories, not just food. A Chinese small-animal brand and a Chinese-invested harness brand both cleared a Western retail jury this year; sourcing stories built on cost are losing to sourcing stories built on design.
Key Takeaways
- PATS 2026 presented New Product Awards across 12 categories on September 27, 2026, judged by UK retailers from 400+ entries.
- The Truelove x That Dog Ultra-light Magnetic Top Harness won the harness category for its one-handed magnetic closure designed for owners with dexterity issues.
- Chongqing Pet Union of China won the small animal and bird category with the Teewy Meadow Wheel.
- Aquatics took two awards — Sera Group’s Interpet Scape Kit Cube Aquariums and Anglo Aquatic Plant’s Pond in a Pot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened?
PATS 2026 presented its New Product Awards on September 27, 2026, the close of day one at the NEC Birmingham, with 12 winners chosen by retailer judges from 400+ entries.
Which product won the harness category?
The Truelove x That Dog Ultra-light Magnetic Top Harness, judged ideal for owners with dexterity issues.
Did any Chinese companies win?
Yes — Chongqing Pet Union won the small animal and bird category with the Teewy Meadow Wheel, and Truelove’s harness win adds a second Chinese-linked brand.
Why do these awards matter commercially?
UK retailers use the New Product Showcase to plan spring listings, so awards translate into distribution and the criteria double as a product-development brief.
What segments showed the strongest innovation?
Enrichment toys, hydration and wellness, grooming hardware and aquatics — two of twelve awards went to aquatics alone.
Sources
- Primary — Pet Business World, PATS reveals New Product Award winners, petbusinessworld.co.uk, September 27-28, 2026.
- Secondary — Pet Business World, PATS 2026 ready to greet the UK pet trade (show preview, exhibitor and venue facts), petbusinessworld.co.uk, September 2026.
- Secondary — Pet Gazette, Rosewood Pet Products launches Mr Men and Little Miss dog toy range at PATS 2026, petgazette.biz, September 2026.
Related News & GPI Data
- GPI News Center — daily verified pet-industry intelligence
- GPI Company Directory — 90,000+ pet-industry company records
- GPI Industry Rankings — country and category benchmarks
- GPI Compare Tool — side-by-side company and brand comparisons
