Meet Paul Hoskinson of Fido Pro in Lodo-Riverfront

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Hoskinson.

Paul, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Fido Pro came about by way of a tragic ski accident. While backcountry skiing with my dog, I collided with her and severely cut her leg with my ski edge. The accident occured at the bottom of a bowl, above tree-line and a long way from my truck. Once we stopped the bleeding we had to figure out how to get Remi (dog) to safety. The accident was very traumatic but the realization of how far we were from help and that we had no reliable means of carrying her to safety caused a lot of additinal stress. Fortunately, I was able to empty the contents of my backpack and barely squeeze her in. After hours of uphill skiing, we finally got to our truck and an emergency vet. Remi had surgery and was given a 50/50 chance of being able to use that leg again. Happy to report that she made a 100% full recovery! After the accident, I began to search online for a device that I could carry with me on backcountry adventures with my dog, which would provide me a means of carrying them to safety should they become sick or injured. I found nothing, so decided to invent something on my own. From the point of the accident, my motivation to invent an emergency, injured dog rescue sling, has been my love for dogs and wanting to prevent others from having to go through what I did. We love our dogs and want to take them adventuring with us because it provides them and us, so much joy. If the dog becomes injured, we need to be able to carry them to safety, its the responsible thing to do. The accident occurred Memorial Day of 2017, by late that year we had our final prototype and began our proof of concept in 2018. We entered the market in 2019 and demand for the Fido Pro Airlift has been very positive.

Great, 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?
I would say it has been smooth-ish. Inventing a never before seen product and introducing it to the market comes with many challenges. I have been able to apply my sales and marketing experience, as well as past experiences as a principal in startup companies, which has been quite helpful. The biggest challenge from a design prospective has been; how to design and build a product that is lightweight and packable, yet highly functional and strong. I knew that if the Airlift was too heavy or took up too much volume that it might be left behind. The Airlift is a product that should always be carried with you but will hopefully never need to be used. It should live in the bottom of your backpack, along side your other emergency gear. I went through several prototypes and finally had the ah-ha moment. Our, patent pending design incorporates eight points of contact where the shoulder straps are anchored to the body of the Airlift. This design is lightweight (approx 8 oz) and distributes the weight of the dog very well.

Please tell us about your business.
We are developing and introducing to the market a very necessary, yet never before seen piece of gear for dog owners who take their dog’s hiking, skiing, backpacking, snowshoeing, etc. People who own dogs 20 lbs or heavier and take them adventuring with them, should have a means of carrying their dog to safety if it should become sick or injured. We have also found the demand for the Airlift from dog owners who live in high-rise apartments with fire escapes, knowing there is no way they could get their dog down a fire-escape without a product like ours. We manufacture a lightweight, packable piece of gear that is the solution to this problem. The Fido Pro, Airlift (patent pending). We started out manufacturing in Carbondale CO. We quickly outgrew that facility and are now manufacturing in Denver. As we scale, there might be need to add additional manufacturing, but we are determined to keep the majority of what we produce here in Denver.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
First time skiing age 4 at the now closed Geneva Basin

Pricing:

• Our current Airlift sells for between $69.95 and $79.95 depending on size.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fidoprotection.com
• Instagram: fido pro
• Facebook: Fido Pro

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