Every morning, I wake up, stretch, look out my bedroom window at the sunrise and smile. Then I usually pull a piece of dog hair out of my mouth, kick anywhere between two and four animals off my bed, yell at one of them to quit whining, all while wrapping a pill in butter for yet another.

If this sounds familiar, you probably also suffer from a condition known as being a dog person.

I am lucky enough to have the coolest job in the world, so I get to spend an unusual amount of time with my dogs. One of them, Otter, comes to work with me everyday. Right now, the other two take turns either hanging out in the WA office or bothering the poor guys working on my home renovation.

Everyday I am more and more grateful to have them in my life. They keep me laughing, they remind me to relax, they love me unconditionally, and their excitement to eat the same thing everyday is inspiring.

Let’s be honest, our dogs participate in our lives with more energy, excitement and love than our human family does. If we want to hike, we have 3 wagging tails and 12 eager paws, ready to go. If we want to lay around all day, they’re with us. If we decided to walk across the country, they would follow us until they physically couldn’t any longer.

It’s that devotion that inspired us to create K9 Athlete.

K9 Athlete

While most of our customers, friends, and family recommend our products to their loved ones, there were some seriously important loved ones who were left out. We have had many customers tell us that they have simply used the human Hydrate & Recover on a dehydrated dog, or that they sprinkle the contents of Joint Advantage on their dog’s food. I have personally used both of these methods myself, with great results.

However, we knew we needed to create products specifically for dogs, with a taste that will make them irresistible (not every dog is a fan of Berry Blast). There were also ingredients we wanted to add and remove from those current products, to make them perfect for the K9 Athlete.

One thing we believe in strongly here at WA is that prevention is far healthier, cheaper and less painful than treatment. Keeping weight off is easier than losing it. Staying in shape is easier than getting back in shape. Stretching properly is easier than spending hours with a physical therapist after an injury. We apply the same philosophy to everything we take care of. Whether that be our children, our parents, our homes, our careers, and in this case, our dogs. Being proactive is a far safer and more effective course of action than waiting for something to go wrong and being reactive.

These two new products are all about maintenance and prevention. Yes, if your dog is dehydrated or suffering from joint pain, these new products will help resolve the issue. But the best part about these formulations is that they can help prevent those issues from ever starting. With daily doses of New Dog™, you can help keep your dog’s joints healthy, strong and pain-free for a long and active life. Using K9 Athlete Hydrate & Recover ® on the trail or during any strenuous exercise will keep them from experiencing the potentially deadly effects of dehydration. Hydrate & Recover® can also help a sick dog stay hydrated and recover faster, just like it does for humans.

Both of these formulas are in a powder format, to make them as easy to use as possible. Simply dissolve Hydrate & Recover in water, and sprinkle New Dog ™ onto their food. My dogs were diligent taste-testers for Hydrate & Recover and can attest that the flavor won’t disappoint. It’s a mixture of bacon, chicken, and butter. According to Larry, it’s perfect.

What we created here was a labor of love. Our formulator is a dog person. Every partner in our company is a dog person (some of us to an extreme). Every single employee is a dog person (or at least they pretend to be… with so many running around the office, it’s hard not to love them).

(Normal meeting in my office, with K9 representatives present)

We’re going to get more into the science and formulation of these two products in follow up articles and emails. For now, I wanted to give you an inside look into why we made these products and why we believe they belong in every dog-loving WA home.

We hope you’ll give these products a try and let us know how they work for your K9. And please remember that we love seeing photos of you and your dogs out there, doing what you love, so don’t be shy! As always, you can reach customer service at contactus@wildernessathlete.com or you can reach out to me directly at Courtney@wildernessathlete.com.

Stay Wild,
Courtney