Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Herriman.
Hi Beth, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Empty nest at last, I literally and figuratively rear-ended into this business when 2 very bonded basset hounds (Angie and Bella) came to us as fosters. Scared of everything and everyone except each other, they had to be walked together. Both frantic to ‘get away’, dropping a leash was not an option, and of course, neither was picking up their poop. Never having had this problem before of leash control and juggling bags, I looked for a solution in stores and online. Nothing available was easy enough to use to be useful. I needed a third hand. A few days into the foster, the realization of what I needed became clear, what it looked like wasn’t. A trip to the hardware store for inspiration plus some craft plastic I’d ordered for I don’t know what, and the dooloop design took shape.
Because the dooloop turned walking them into something manageable, it was soon apparent that we were going to fail the foster. My handmade dooloop made walks way less stressful for me, of course the ladies were still stressed. The dawning of the realization that not carrying a bag of poop in hand regardless of situation is way nicer, led me to make more and give them to friends and family to see what they thought. It was universally agreed that it WAS easier, and definitely better. I mean, stand back and think about walking around with a bag of feces in your hand :/ With some encouragement from friends, I found a talented industrial designer who turned it into a manufacturable design, had some prototypes made by a local injection molding company, took them to a trade show, saw they were revolutionary in design (wasn’t sure – have been a stay at home mom) and now I’ve got a business!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If anyone’s first ‘rodeo’ is a smooth road, it means they’re on an unambitious horse, or full of bull***. The learning curve has been steep and unrelenting. Truth is that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and had I known just how much I didn’t know about what I didn’t know and how much there was to know, I don’t think I would have dared.
A friend at the time said to me when I’d start to freak out, what’s the next step? Do that, then see if you want to do the next thing….It turns out, creating what I know will be a staple on every leash eventually, was for me the easy part.
The first dooloops were made of what turned out to be a BETA compostable plastic by a small plastics manufacturer out of Kansas. They didn’t understand their material, oversold what it did, and when it failed I was left holding the bag. They’ve discontinued the plastic, but never helped me financially, they took literally no responsibility for their material. Many wonderful dooloop early adopters got a product that became brittle, and broke. That was a huge setback. I had to recall and replace 10s of thousands, meaning starting from scratch with all the production and literally mailing new ones to customer for over 2 years. That was a huge and lasting financial hit to my fledgling business.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Houndswag LLC, the dooloop?
My business and invention is the dooloop leash accessory. It’s the first stupid simple, one-hand easy way to deal with bags of dog poop on walks or hikes, it was a hail Mary for sanity.
When starting the business it became my opportunity to create a company/product could have the potential to do more than just be a new convenience. I wanted it to match the values that I’ve talked about my whole life. To that end, the manufacturing has been kept entirely in the USA, using recycled, non-toxic, BPA-free plastic, paying a fair wage to people who assemble the dooloops to the tag with a ball-chain, eliminating the need for single use plastic. Sustainable, ethical and local – while still less than $10 for consumers, and something anyone with a dog will use daily at least once.
Many times I’ve been told that I should/could…and they might be right. But I hope that people see that the value of a product is more than just the end use or convenience. We can have nice things and play nicely with others. The dooloop has the potential to turn literally s#*t, into gold for the people who do assembly, stores, consumers and me, plus it’s a huge win for Mother Nature if more people pick up their dog’s poop, and by proxy everyone with our without a dog!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are several ways that people can help support the dooloop’s goal to spread peace, not poo! If you have a dooloop, and people ask you about it, tell them what it does, and why you specifically support this USA based/woman owned/environmental/sustainable/ethical mission. If you’re on social media, Instagram, FB or Pinterest, tag us at @dooloopdogs! We love, love, love seeing darling dogs and people taking care of poop.
Another biggie for individuals would be to ask your local pet shop if they carry the dooloop, and if they don’t, tell them why they should! An email to info@thedooloop.com can get them set up with an account.
If you are another vendor, or as so many people do nowadays, social media influencer interested in sharing the news, reach out. My only requirement is that you actually love the dooloop. Canned testimonials are not the vibe, and not the goal. IMHO, and experience, to try it is to realize how much you now can’t live without it. Once mindlessly hitting yourself in the face drinking coffee with poop between the fingers is enough to realize, it really isn’t that great to carry poop around.
Pricing:
- $8-$10
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thedooloop.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dooloopdogs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dooloopdogs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgBSzM9rklY
- Other: terest.com/thedooloop/
Image Credits
Terran Bayer
