Congratulations to e-commerce company Dog Quality of 100 Mile House, B.C., winner of the Spring 2019 Purolator Small Business Dream into Reality Contest. We challenged companies to tell us how they are using innovation to turn their dream into reality. Dog Quality’s story bounded past 3,000 worthy submissions to win $10,000 cash and $5,000 in Purolator shipping credits.
Dog Quality’s story was not only heartwarming, but a tale of amazing innovation. Dogs have always had a special place in lives of Canadians, never more so than today, when animals are fully valued members of our families. Like any family member, they deserve tender loving care in their senior years. Many older dogs struggle with the same age-related conditions that affect humans, incontinence, arthritis, and weak muscles and joints among them. Dog Quality focuses on improving quality of life for senior dogs and their families by designing, making and selling proprietary and innovative assistive products that help make this stage of a dog’s life happier and healthier. These products mean that dog-parents no longer need to make the heart wrenching decision to put their dogs down due to age-related conditions.
Among Dog Quality’s products are mobility solutions like strollers, traction socks and ramps, as well as dog incontinence aids, like dog diapers, bands, pads, blankets and more. The company is currently developing a specialized dog wheelchair, a stroller for large breed senior dogs and protective outdoor footwear for dogs that have trouble walking. They are also the only company in North America building their dog strollers in-house and have their own sewing department where they make a large portion of their incontinence products. As Dog Quality explained in their contest submission: “Bringing as much of the manufacturing process for our products in-house as possible is an important part of our strategy because it gives us more control over the design and quality of our products.”
Keeping production in-house also helps in the company’s “never-ending pursuit of quality and efficiency”. As a small company doing big things, innovation comes in many forms. From production tools that help them test parts and build products quickly and accurately, to the software they use to manage multiple warehouses, make projections, track inventory and orders; innovation plays a crucial role. Innovation appears at almost every step but most importantly, it helps them identify and design life-changing solutions to problems faced by senior dogs, which can benefit all dogs, young and old, big and small. Demand for these types of products is growing, creating a $34 billion (USD) global opportunity.
Purolator is proud to support Dog Quality on their mission to improve quality of life for aging dogs and those who love and care for them.
