We’re written about chiengora before, dog hair that’s been carded and spun into yarn. Clothing and other items made from dog hair has been around for centuries; the Salish –  indigenous North Americans who lived in the Pacific Northwest –  were famous for their blankets from dog hair.

The hair from “double coated” breeds tend to make the best yarn, breeds like the Collie, Old English Sheepdog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Samoyed and Golden Retriever, to name a fiew. Their dense, soft, insulating undercoat is mostly what they shed naturally, and that hair makes dandy mittens, scarves, pillows and blankets.

There are lots of services that will do this for you (we found this one without trying very hard), but if this is something you do, by all means, leave a link to your website or contact information (and include your charges) in the comments section below. The holidays are coming, and a gift made from the hair of a beloved dog is a wonderfully personal present.

A sharp eyed friend of NPDD noticed that we humans aren’t the only ones who are fluffing our nests with dog hair. She found the hair of her Samoyed lining a robin’s nest as seen in this picture.  Our thanks to Jan Johnson for sharing an epic photograph!