🚨NEWS ALERT

Gov. Jim Justice brought his Bulldog, Babydog, to the RNC and the internet went nuts.

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🛡️ $150K for an elite guard dog

• 💻 Billion dollar founder tackles pet telehealth

• 📈 Trending: downward dog, with a dog

🛡️ $150K FOR AN ELITE GUARD DOG

In the remote expanse of Bozeman, Montana, a niche luxury business has caught the public eye, captivating the ultra-wealthy and raising eyebrows in equal measure.

Svalinn, a company that breeds and trains elite guard dogs, charges a staggering $150,000 per dog.

These dogs, a mix of Dutch shepherd, German shepherd, and Belgian Malinois, are marketed as the ultimate blend of military-grade protection and family-friendly companionship.

While Svalinn’s services have garnered a devoted wealthy clientele, they have also attracted significant controversy regarding the treatment and training of these animals.

Svalinn’s story began when founder Kim Greene, living in Nairobi with her then-husband, Jeff, sought a non-lethal way to protect their family amidst a wave of carjackings.

The couple’s initial foray into breeding tactical K-9s evolved into a full-fledged business upon their return to the U.S. in 2013.

Situated in Montana’s Paradise Valley, Svalinn’s training facility is as rigorous as it is remote, featuring an obstacle course called the Phoenix designed to test and enhance the dogs' physical and mental acuity.

Clients are drawn to Svalinn’s dogs for their extraordinary capabilities.

Regis Haid, a brain surgeon, and his wife, Mary Ellen, were initially hesitant about the hefty price tag but were soon convinced after witnessing the dogs’ prowess firsthand.

Similarly, Stephen Mazzola, a retired F-16 pilot, describes his Svalinn dog, Jet, as a “gentle Navy SEAL,” showcasing an instinctual protective behavior that integrates seamlessly with rigorous training.

However, the methods used to achieve this level of discipline have sparked significant ethical concerns. Greene’s approach is rooted in aversive training techniques, which involve the use of choke collars, and a refusal to intervene when puppies are at risk of dying from exposure.

Greene’s belief in natural selection and her “no-assholes policy” for clients reflect a harsh philosophy that prioritizes toughness and resilience over gentleness and compassion.

Critics argue that such methods border on cruelty. The lack of comfort and the intense physical demands placed on the dogs during their training have raised questions about their well-being. Greene’s practice of referring to the dogs as “assets” and her unapologetic stance on their harsh upbringing have only fueled the controversy.

Despite these concerns, the allure of owning a Svalinn dog remains strong among the affluent. The exclusivity and prestige associated with these animals, coupled with their impressive capabilities, continue to attract clients willing to invest heavily in what they perceive as the ultimate security measure.

Svalinn claims that they sell about 20 dogs a year and have 350 that are currently in their program.

This means they bring in $3M/yr from their dogs.

Svalinn positions itself not just as a dog breeder but as a provider of a comprehensive service, offering ongoing support and training to ensure that the dogs and their owners form a cohesive unit.

This full-service approach is part of what clients are buying into—a philosophy that emphasizes structure, dominance, and a deep, almost primal connection between human and canine.

As the debate around Svalinn’s methods continues, it underscores a broader conversation about the ethics of luxury pet ownership and the lengths to which people will go to ensure their security.

While Svalinn’s dogs undoubtedly offer unparalleled protection, the question remains: at what cost to the animals themselves?

💻 BILLION DOLLAR FOUNDER TACKLES PET TELEHEALTH

Joe Spector is somewhat a success in business.

That is if you consider co-founding a $4b company that went public in 4 years a success (which we do).

Joe is one of the co-founders of the popular men's health company, Hims, which he helped rapidly grow until it went public in 2020:

Hims (now Hims & Hers) rode the wave of telehealth during Covid and really nailed the direct to consumer marketing that allowed them to scale so quickly.

A few years ago, he decided to leverage his experience w/ Hims & Hers on a new type of customer, pets.

With that, in 2021, Joe founded Dutch, a telehealth company for dogs and cats.

The opportunity he saw —

As a dog owner, Joe felt that there was a lack of access and affordable care options when it came to vets. It's a tale as old as time. Something seems to be going on with your dog, but it's a weekend evening so aside from googling and freaking yourself out, you could call an emergency vet.

But that is going to require an appt which will likely cost an arm and a leg, and require you to drive for 45 minutes.

On top of that, the vet will take all of 3 minutes to tell you it's nothing serious and send you home with a $45 prescription for some ointment.

And now that people have been exposed to the convenience of telehealth for ourselves, many consumers have started to search for online options to avoid the above scenario.

As you can see, searches for "online vet" has grown steadily to over 4k searches per week in the US:

Challenges along the way

Hims & Hers had a much different path to growth. That company started during a period of low interest rates and very accessible capital from VCs. They raised over $500m to pour into growth and scaled rapidly.

The economic climate is different now, so Dutch has been forced to be more methodical and try to build in a sustainable manner. Though to be fair they still raised a reported $40m, so it's not like they are bootstrapped.

Along the way, a variety of other challenges have presented themselves:

• Pet telemedicine wasn't very established - Hims & Hers came after other companies like Teladoc had gone public, so there was an established playbook. Dutch has had to develop a lot of the consumer education to inform people about online health options.

• Finding vets - How do you launch a company who promotes on-demand care? You need a lot of vets! And while that might seem straightforward, it's not easy. Not only do you need to interview and hire at scale, you also need to train them on your philosophy, tools, processes, etc. Dutch wrote a breakdown on how they find and train the vets on the platform here.

• Regulation - Each state has it's own regulations around pet care, and some don't even allow vet telemedicine yet. This means you need to be able to adjust your practice 50 different ways so you don't run into compliance issues.

How it works

Dutch starts with a pretty affordable plan ($11/mo if you pay for the year) that gets you unlimited video and messaging with US licensed vets for up to 5 pets.

There are some add-ons like insurance ($20/mo for dogs and $19/mo for cats through a partner insurance company) that may increase your monthly spend.

Their vets can also prescribe medication, and they offer free shipping for any prescriptions.

A little blurb from their site on what a "visit" might look like:

_______________________

When booking a video call with a vet, you'll be asked a few questions about your pet’s health issue. Depending on the issue, you may also be asked to fill out a longer questionnaire about their symptoms and share photographs of them so our veterinarians can better understand what’s going on. You’ll then pick an appointment time that works best for you.

During your video call, one of our licensed veterinarians will talk to you about the symptoms your pet is experiencing, ask you questions, review your pet’s medical history if you’ve provided it, and answer any questions you have. The vet will ask to see your pet and their environment. And they may ask you to perform some simple checks on them if needed.

After your video call, the vet will send you a message with a custom treatment plan to help your pet feel better, including a link to buy any recommended prescription or over-the-counter medications. Place your order and we’ll ship it free.

_______________________

We think there are some clear benefits here with what Dutch is trying to do.

Most owners can probably tell you that a trip to the vet can easily cost you the $132 that Dutch costs for the year, and often you just need some reassurance from a medical professional that things are ok.

What we worry about is the level of care and missing out on the in-person exam. So it's possible that Dutch becomes a supplement to your normal vet for those situations where you want some advice, but aren't sure that you need to make a trip to the office.

📈 TRENDING: DOWNWARD DOG, WITH A DOG

Puppy yoga is definitely a trend.

Stumbling around the internet looking at pups, we found out that each month there are close to 15,000 searches for people who want to get their downward dog on with dogs:

And you can clearly see this was not as much of a thing a few years ago.

After nerding out about the graph, we asked ourselves some important questions like, what is puppy yoga, and is it as wonderful as it sounds?

We took to the socials to see what people were saying, and to see what kind of engagement these posts were getting:

21M views —

@pubity

Bro is sleeping like he pays the bills 🤣🤣 #RoadTo15Million #Pubity (@PuppyYoga on IG via ViralHog)

5.3M views —

@puppyyogasydney

Would you dare coming to Puppy Yoga? 😜✨ Follow us on IG to not miss out on new classes 🧘🏽‍♀️ #puppyyoga #sydney #nsw #puppylove #dogsoftik... See more

As you can see, the humans seem to love it, and some of the puppies seem to really get their zen on. As far as what it is, it's pretty self explanatory.

The class is low on the yoga, and high on the puppy interaction. We've seen this trend w/ other animals as well, such as goat yoga, so it's not exactly new.

People talk about the mental and physical benefits of these classes, as well as the charitable aspect as many shelters or studios will hold these to promote adoptions or to raise funds.

We searched around some city areas and found plenty of classes offered at different venues (San Francisco):

• https://puppies-yoga.com/products/sanfrancisco

• https://puppyloveparty.com/northern-california

• https://www.yogaforce.com/doga/ (this is yoga with your dog.)

  

  Puppies & Yoga class in San Francisco

So far, sounds pretty good. However there are some doubters about the "good" of this trend, and we always like to explore both sides of the story.

Last year, ITVnews did an investigation into these types of classes and found a number of concerning features after going undercover to multiple sessions:

• Puppies aren't given access to water during the sessions to avoid them needing to pee.

• Temperatures were higher than comfortable for dogs of that age.

• Puppies were woken from naps to participate in classes, and sleep is important during their growth phase.

• Some studios run these classes purely for profit w/ out any benefit to charities or adoptions.

This doesn't mean that Puppy Yoga is either good or bad, but makes us want to do a little research before we dive in.

One of the providers we found does address some of the above concerns on their site:

Is Their Opportunity Here?

Well, this is going to come down to personal preference and whether you see this as a fun, mutually beneficial trend. Or if you see this as commodifying cute animals to make a buck.

There definitely is a trend growing, backed up by consumer behavior on google, social media, and event bookings.

One idea we had would be helping shelters or agencies organize their own versions of these to help increase adoptions or raise money. You could specialize in the promotion and execution of these events.

Another idea is doing this for people with their dogs (though a bunch of strange dogs together is always an interesting challenge).

So, there you have it. Another trend to learn about and more hair brained ideas of how to turn it into a business!

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: BITCOIN

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🪴The dog bowl planter: The curly plant mom on Instagram has gone viral for her dog bowl inside a planter hack. All of the dribbles that fall from her pup drinking keep the plant well hydrated!

• 🎙️ Veteran dog trainers launch a podcast: Dog trainers, Shane & John have launched a podcast where they interview other dog business owners (trainers, groomers, etc.)

• 👀Dog food art: This artist has perfectly blended photos of dogs and the foods they resemble into one seamless hilariously adorable image.

A REALLY GOOD DOG

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.