Trevor Jensen, Co-Founder of Pup Protector shares how he risked his life to save his dog and explains why he is determined to improve dog walking safety.

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Check out Trevor’s mission and Pup Protector here: www.pupprotector.com

Pup Protector is a company designed around one basic principal, give the people what they want. We know that walking your dog during the dark hours can be a scary experience. One of the founders of Pup Protector was hospitalized after he was hit by a car while on a walk with his beautiful Weimaraner. Fortunately he shoved his dog to safety. The problem may have been avoided if he had something to get the drivers attention.

Every year 60,000 pedestrians are hit by cars. That’s one person every eight minutes. What an alarming statistic! We decided to create a line of LED dog collars and LED dog leashes that would increase visibility and allow drivers to see pedestrians and dogs. As with almost every good idea, we googled it and found that the product already existed. We searched the market and found a few companies that made LED dog collars and LED dog leashes, but they didn’t seem to take into account what dog owners wanted. The products on the market seemed low quality and not very well designed. We decided to ask people what they liked or disliked about LED dog products and found there was a big opportunity to design a company around the suggestions from dog owners.

We opened a kiosk, surveyed people on the internet, attended trade shows, spoke with retailers and launched a crowdfunding campaign to gather as much input as possible. We gathered thousands of suggestions and integrated the most common features people wanted. We plan to conduct this same extensive research for every new product that Pup Protector launches.

People wanted a good design that appealed visually. People wanted to incorporate reflective components with LED components to maximize visibility. People wanted the lights to stay in place when the leash was hooked up. We asked about colors. We asked about weight. We asked about the battery pack. We asked about the material. We asked about every possible aspect of the collars and leashes so we could provide a product that people wanted. In hindsight it seems like an obvious thing to do. Ask people what they want and design the product around their suggestions. Since no one else was willing to put effort into providing a collar and leash that dog lovers demanded, Pup Protector was born.

The post Ep. 037- Is Your Safety At Risk When You Walk Your Dog? appeared first on Paws To Talk.