Jim Perkins, the founder of WAG Products LLC, which makes WaterDog Adventure Gear Boarding Steps in Germantown, talks to his golden retriever, Katie, 8, the company CFO, or "chief fun officer."
Posted on 04/24/2012 5:26:11 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Germantown firm's floating stairs allows doggy paddlers to get back on boat
The target market for Jim Perkins' upstart manufacturing company consists of swimmers with hairy backs who often stink when they get wet.
Perkins has developed, built and begun marketing a set of floating plastic stairs designed to help dogs easily and safely climb back into a boat after going for a swim.
The inspiration for the new business venture: his golden retriever, Katie.
"I certainly didn't expect that the dog would cause me to pursue a second career," said Perkins, 57, a retired engineer who spent most of his career at Kimberly-Clark Corp., and also worked at Harley-Davidson Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.
A few years ago, Katie jumped off the family boat and went for a swim. That was great - until it came time to get her back in the boat.
"The dog jumped in, and we're in 60 feet of water," Perkins said. "What the heck do we do? She's swimming around having a great time.
~snip~
Perkins and his wife, Jennifer, managed to muscle the dog into the boat.
"We were soaked and covered in dog hair," he said. They also realized that was not going to be a long-term solution if they wanted to keep taking Katie on weekend boat outings. Empty nesters with three grown sons, they wanted to keep bringing the dog out on the water with them.
~snip~
That prompted Perkins to find a way to help mesh Katie's love of the water with the need to get her back into the boat.
~snip~
"I was trying to come up with the utmost in flexibility," he said. "I wanted a design that popped on literally in seconds."
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Jim Perkins, the founder of WAG Products LLC, which makes WaterDog Adventure Gear Boarding Steps in Germantown, talks to his golden retriever, Katie, 8, the company CFO, or "chief fun officer."
Wisconsin Mother of Invention and Doggie ping
FReep mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Also possible doggie and possible outdoors list.
So what’s Obama’s position on this innovation? I understand the President really likes dog.
There is a video at the source link.
That’s too large to use with the dog hualing kayak I’m working on. I still need a way for the dog to reboard without flipping the thing.
I don’t know about kayaks, but the owner of this company is working on other models.
how about a flat platform at the back that is low and near the water level?
That is pretty neat! I love inventions that help our fur babies!
Wet dog? Eeeewwww.
Seriously.
I’m thinking, “floating? why necessary?”
Anything, such as a platform or ramp or few steps, that can simply flip over the sides while clamped onto said side should suffice.
OK, I finally saw the video.
Kudos to the man for trying to come up with something, but I don’t think this’ll be popular once people really try to use it “in the field”.
It’s just too bulky, and I don’t see how it’s going to be easy to lift off the ladder from the interior of the boat. Worse having to fish it out of the water to put it on! You’re talking a good deal of weight and size in a cantilever situation trying to retrieve it or hold onto it from the boat.
Folding it should be possible from the boat, not just for non-use storage. Maybe with some modifications he can make it fold up while on the ladder (perhaps a pull-rope), easy to lift off, and then can be stored on the boat waiting for its next use rather than tossing it in the water.
Live dog. Big hugs!
I really do wish Jim the best of luck but with smaller and lighter dog retrieval devices out there already Im just not sure how this will compete.
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