How we judge

Each buying guide answers one pet's problem. "Harnesses for puppies" is a guide. "The best harness" is not, because no harness suits every dog.

So we start with the pet's body and habits. For a dog harness, that means chest size, build and how hard the dog pulls. For a crate, it means how long and how tall the dog is. Then we look for the products that suit that pet.

We use two kinds of source. Each one does a different job.

• The product. Size charts, materials, care labels and fitting instructions come from the brand's own pages or the product's store listing. When we quote a spec, we say whose spec it is.
• Vets and welfare groups. Health and safety advice comes from bodies like the AVMA, the AAHA, the ASPCA and the Cornell Feline Health Center. We link the page that backs each claim.

We never claim we tried a product. We don't write about how a harness felt or how a cat reacted to a box. If a sentence says what a product does, it comes from one of the sources above.

Every size on Good Floof comes from one record per product. We copy that record from the brand's size chart, or from the chart on the product's store listing. It notes the page we copied it from and the date we checked it.

Guide tiles, comparison tables, reviews and the Fit Finder all read that same record. So a product shows the same sizes wherever you see it.

We never promise that a size will fit your pet. We compare your numbers with the brand's chart. If your pet sits between two sizes, we say so and tell you what to check.

A list of ten products leaves you to do the choosing. We pick three, and we say which one we'd buy first.

• Best in Show goes to the one we'd buy first for most pets with this problem.
• The other two awards go to products that suit a certain kind of pet better, like "Best for puppies" or "Best for big cats". One of them can be "Best value" or "Best budget" instead, when the prices on the day back it up.

Each of the other two awards names the type of pet it suits.

Each pick gets a short review that says who it suits and why. Then "Pick it if" and "Skip it if" lines help you decide in a glance.

Our reviews give a score out of 5. It's our own judgment of how well the product does its job for the pet it suits. It isn't an average of customer star ratings.

We don't print prices. They change too often for a page to keep up. Check the price on the store page before you buy.

Care guides cover everyday jobs, like measuring a dog for a harness or getting a cat used to a carrier. Each one opens with the answer, then lists the steps in order.

They are not vet advice. If your pet seems unwell or in pain, call your vet first.

We earn a commission on some purchases through our links. We choose the picks first and add the links after. A product that pays us more doesn't move up. Brands can't pay us to pick their products.

The affiliate disclosure explains how the links work.

The date at the top of the page shows when we last changed it.

Found something out of date? Email [email protected] and we'll look into it.